“The PTA program at IOT is the real deal. It is not for someone who is trying to waste their time. If you want to succeed, you will succeed. The instructors for the program all bring in their personal experiences to give you some insight while sticking to the script of the textbooks. They all have their biases, but they are upfront with you and allow you to make your own judgments on certain criteria. Every instructor is prepared to have you succeed, given you prove to them you are doing your due diligence and showing them you are putting in the work.
Are they available all the time? No, but when they are, they are full of knowledge.
Is this program easy? Not even close, and every semester gets harder than the previous.
It’s made to be this way because, in theory, it’s all repetition and each semester brings the next building block to stack on top of the previously learned information. The course will feel like there is too much information with not enough time to comprehend everything. You have to be okay with that concept. When you get into the field you realize you never will stop learning and even PTs feel like the same way when they were going through their respective programs. The fact that you are getting a taste of all the different fields of physical therapy the better the clinician it is actually preparing you to be.
I actually find myself missing class sometimes. I don’t remember all the long nights and really early mornings. I remember all the relationships I made along the journey, with the most rewarding memories coming from our clinical rotations.
So, moral of the story: if this was easy, everyone would be doing it. If you know this is what you want to get into, then join the program, buckle down, and get your stuff done in 18 months. If you’re hesitating or not sure, try applying to be a pt tech at a clinic to get your feet wet before diving in. I am definitely still loving my job a year and a half later. Lots to learn still, but I am having fun while doing it.
Good luck in your future just remember you have the power to accomplish anything if you put your mind to it.”
Matthew Montes – PTA, Class of 2021
