Program Description

Licensed physical therapist assistants are educated health care providers that work under the supervision of a licensed professional physical therapist and assist in the provision of physical therapy interventions. The physical therapist assistant helps manage conditions such as sprains/strains, fractures, back and neck injuries, sports and work related injuries, and others. Components of therapies performed involve exercise, massage, electrical stimulation, hot and cold packs, traction, and ultrasound. Physical therapist assistants are in constant demand both locally and nationally.

The Medical Center Campus Physical Therapist Assistant Program is a two-year course of study requiring 74 credits for an Associate in Science degree. A series of general education courses are associated with the Physical Therapist Assistant program at Miami Dade College. It is recommended that students interested in enrolling in this program complete these general education courses prior to enrollment in the program to reduce the course workload in each semester.  Completion of these courses does not guarantee admission to the program.

The Physical Therapist Assistant Program provides learning experiences that enable the student to acquire and assimilate the necessary technical competencies to function effectively as a supportive health care provider in the physical therapy profession. In keeping with its mission and goals, and in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Medical Center Campus promotes an environment of respect and support for persons with disabilities and will make reasonable accommodations. Please see the ADA Standards listed for this program.

The Physical Therapist Assistant Program is highly demanding, and students are therefore more successful if they do not work while in the program. If students must work for financial support, the program strongly recommends a limit of 20 hours of employment per week. Students should also consider family responsibilities before committing to a full-time accelerated program.

To facilitate the clinical portion of the program, students are assigned to a clinical facility within Miami Dade County . Students are responsible for their own transportation to the campus and to various agencies in the community to which they are assigned for clinical experiences.

Mission and Goals

The mission of Miami Dade College is to provide accessible, affordable, high-quality education by keeping learner's needs at the center of decision-making in partnership with its dynamic, multicultural community.

The mission of Medical Center Campus is to provide students with affordable, accessible, quality education in health care careers. Faculty and staff strive to respond to the changing needs of students, health care providers, and health care consumers in the community at large through collaboration with health care and business communities. The Campus provides an environment that is conductive to learning by recognizing and responding to the diverse learning styles, cultures, and resources of its students.

The mission of the School of Allied Health Technologies is to provide excellent, affordable, accessible health care education and to promote quality health care services in our community.

The mission of the Physical Therapist Assistant program is to prepare knowledgable, competent, self assured, adaptive, and service oriented paraprofessionals.

Requirements

To be eligible for admission to the Physical Therapist Assistant Program, you must complete the following steps:

1. You are 18 years old and have earned, or will earn at the time of enrollment into the program, a high school diploma or a high school equivalency diploma (GED).

2. If you have not been enrolled at Miami Dade College during the past 12 months, complete an Application for Admission or Readmission to College Credit Courses . Choose the Medical Center Campus as the "preferred" campus; be sure to enter "23035" under "Program Code."

3. Register for and take the Computerized Placement Test (CPT) through Testing Services, Room 1303, Medical Center Campus, 305-237-4275, or through the testing center at any of the other MDC campuses. You must sign up at least one month in advance of taking the test, and you must take the test before the date that program application materials are due. You must have passing scores on the Computerized Placement Test (CPT) , or, if you have taken the test but have not passed, then you must have satisfactorily completed the developmental courses prescribed by MDC as a result of your scores.

4. Complete the Program Application process by submitting an application for Program Admission and an application fee for the $25.00 application fee. Application must be received by September 1st for January entry.
   

Where Do I Send My Application Materials?

You may send your MDC application to any admissions office located on any of the six campuses of Miami Dade College . Applications for admission may also be filled out on line at http://www.mdc.edu.
Note:  You have to be connected to the Internet to access this web site

You must also send the following:

1. Application fee (check or money order - no cash)
2. official high school transcript and official college transcripts (if available) to the Registrar

Send your Application for Program Admission, professional documentation, and an unofficial copy of your college transcript to the Physical Therapist Assistant Program at the address below:

Miami Dade College
Medical Center Campus
New Student Center
950 N.W. 20th Street
Miami, FL 33127

Criteria for Program Selection

Enrollment in the program is limited. Meeting the admissions requirements does not guarantee program acceptance. For this reason, the following criteria will be used to determine which applicants will be admitted. Applicants will be ranked according to the number of natural science and general education courses required in program that have been successfully completed (see table below). Please note that there is no waiting list.

1. Ranking of Natural Science and general education courses completed

RANKING OF COMPLETED COURSES - GENERAL EDUCATION COURSES

2. Overall Grade Point Average (GPA)

3. Florida residents will be given preference over non-residents, as well as students who are reapplying to the program, if they have completed all prerequisites as of September 1 st of the previous year.

Final acceptance will be based on the submission of all required documents received at the mandatory program orientation session.

Transfer Students

If you have previously attended any college or university other than Miami Dade College, you must arrange for that institution to send official transcripts to the Physical Therapist Assistant Program at the Medical Center Campus by the September 1st for a January acceptance.

Students who have attended foreign colleges must submit original transcripts and a certified English translation before February 1 st to the Registrar at the Medical Center Campus for evaluation. For details, please call 305-237-4141. Students who have attended a foreign allied health or nursing program should consult the Miami Dade College catalog for more information about how to have their transcripts, diplomas, and credentials evaluated for U.S. equivalency.

Americans With Disabilities Act 

In keeping with its mission and goals, and in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Medical Center Campus promotes an environment of respect and support for persons with disabilities and will make reasonable accommodations. The definition of individuals with disabilities are those who currently have, have a record of having, or are regarded as having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity. Major life activities include caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, and working.

Individuals applying for admission, progression to clinical courses, and graduation from a program in Nursing and Allied Health Technologies must be able to meet the physical and emotional requirements of the academic program. In addition, students admitted to the programs in Nursing and Allied Health Technologies must possess the following qualities:

• The emotional maturity and stability to approach highly stressful human situations in a calm and rational manner.

• The ability to make clinical judgment using critical thinking.

• The ability to adhere to ethical standards of conduct as well as applicable state and federal laws.

• The ability to provide effective written, oral, nonverbal communication with patients and their families, colleagues, health care providers, and the public.

• An individual who poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others or themselves may be denied admission, progression or graduation. The college's determination that a person poses a direct threat will be based on an individualized assessment that relies on current medical evidence or on the best available evidence to assess the nature, duration, and severity of the risk and the probability that the potential injury will actually occur.

In order to fulfill the requirements of the Physical Therapist Assistant program at Miami Dade College , students must be able to meet the physical demands associated with the profession. Examples of these requirement include but are not limited to the following:

Code: F = frequently O = Occasionally NP = Not Present

For specific Performance Standards associated with the Physical Therapist Assistant program, please contact the Program Coordinator

Because of the unique responsibilities involved in all Allied Health professions, each department reserves the right to require that the student who appears to be unsuited for any program therein withdraw from the program and be guided into another curriculum of study at the college.

Physical Therapist Assistant Curriculum 

Students are admitted to the Physical Therapist Assistant Program in January of each year. You must successfuly complete all the required prerequisite courses and Course content is sequential, and students should plan to enroll in all Physical Therapist Assistant courses in the order and during the terms indicated in the following curriculum outline.

** DENOTES COURSES THAT MUST BE COMPLETED PRIOR TO ENTRY INTO PROGRAM

  PROGRAM: ASSOCIATE IN SCIENCE - PHYSICAL THERAPIST ASSISTANT

RATIO OF CREDITS TO CONTACT HOURS

In order to practice safely as a Physical Therapist Assistant, students must complete a predetermined number of classroom or "contact" hours. For this reason, the number of hours you spend in class will be greater than you might expect. A two-credit clinical laboratory course might require a commitment of six hours of class time per week. The required ratio of credits to contact hours is spelled out in detail below.

Contact hours for theory courses are the equivalent of one contact hour per week for 16 weeks for each credit.

Contact hours for clinical laboratory courses are the equivalent of three contact hours per week for 16 weeks for each credit. Science lab courses meet 2 hours per wekk per credit.

If courses are taught in less than 16 weeks, the total number of required contact hours will be divided by the number of weeks the course is offered.

  Ratio of Credits to Contact Hours

In order to practice safely as a Physical Therapist Assistant, students must complete a predetermined number of classroom or "contact" hours. For this reason, the number of hours you spend in class will be greater than you might expect. A two-credit clinical laboratory course might require a commitment of six hours of class time per week. The required ratio of credits to contact hours is spelled out in detail below.

Contact hours for theory courses are the equivalent of one contact hour per week for 16 weeks for each credit.

Contact hours for clinical laboratory courses are the equivalent of three contact hours per week for 16 weeks for each credit. Science lab courses meet 2 hours per week per credit.

If courses are taught in less than 16 weeks, the total number of required contact hours will be divided by the number of weeks the course is offered.

Approximate Costs

As of August 2006, the cost of tuition is $68.94 per credit for in-state students and $228.76 per credit for out-of-state students. Here are estimates for total tuition, based on 74 credits at these per-credit rates. In-state students: $5,102.00. Out-of-state students: $16,929.00. Tuition is due at the beginning of each term and can be determined by multiplying the number of credits by the cost per credit hour. Additionally, over the course of the program, students should expect to pay approximately $350 for books, $125 for name tags, uniforms and footwear, and $15.50 annually for malpractice insurance. Most laboratory courses have an additional fee between $20.00 and $50. All costs are subject to change.

Financial Aid

All students at the Medical Center Campus should apply for financial aid, which includes the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work Study, and Federal Subsidized loans. The Campus also offers emergency short-term loans and a variety of scholarships.

Application can be made in the Financial Aid Office (Room 1201) on the Medical Center Campus. Those who apply before April 1st for the following academic year are given priority. Only courses in which students have registered before the 100 percent refund date qualify for financial aid. For additional information, call the Financial Aid personnel at 305-237-4160.

Accreditation

The Physical Therapist Assistant program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). The current accreditation period is October 27, 2004 - December 31, 2014.

American Physical Therapy Association
Department of Accreditation
1111 N. Fairfax Street
Alexandria , Virginia 22134

Further information regarding accreditation can be obtained at http://www.apta.org
Note:  You have to be connected to the Internet to access this web site

Licensure

Graduates are qualified to apply to the State Board of physical Therapy for permission to complete the examination process. Upon satisfactory completion, applicants become licensed physical therapist assistants.

For further information:

Board of Physical Therapy
4052 Bald Cypress Way
Bin C05
Tallahassee , FL 32399-3255
(850) 488-0595
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/physical/pt_home.html
Note:  You have to be connected to the Internet to access this web site

Important Phone Numbers

New Student Center		305-237-4141
Advisement Services		305-237-4238
Financial Aid		305-237-4160
Student Life		305-237-4213
Testing Services		305-237-4275

Faculty and Staff

 Visit the Medical Center Campus on the Web at www.mdc.edu/medical/
Note:  You have to be connected to the Internet to access this web site

The mission of the Medical Center Campus is to provide students with affordable, accessible, quality education in health care careers. Faculty and staff strive to respond to the changing needs of students, health care providers, and health care consumers in the community at large through collaboration with health care and business communities. The Campus provides an environment that is conducive to learning by recognizing and responding to the diverse learning styles, cultures, and resources of its students.