Who is a Physical Therapist Assistant?
A physical therapist assistant (PTA) is a healthcare professional whose primary responsibility is to work under the direction and supervision of a physical therapist and perform duties in a clinical setting. In addition to the duties of the profession, the PTA must always be aware of the patient's condition and needs and be able to interact effectively with patients, healthcare professionals, and the general public.
What are the program learning experiences and assessments?
Program length, curriculum, and learning outcomes are defined in the Catalog, Program Policy Manual, and course syllabi. The Program uses various instructional methods to develop students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities to practice as a PTA.
In lecture and laboratory courses, student learning assessments include periodic written and practical testing, reflective assignments, clinical simulations, and presentations. These assessments are designed to measure competency.
Clinically-based learning takes place in a variety of inpatient and outpatient healthcare settings for up to ten hours a day and up to 36 hours per week. Clinical learning outcomes are primarily assessed during supervised direct patient care activities at an approved clinical site using workplace benchmarks informed by the American Physical Therapy Association Clinical Performance Instrument 3.0 as described in program syllabi. Students progress in academic and clinical courses when they demonstrate they have met competency standards, with or without reasonable accommodations. Student placement in clinical courses, with and without reasonable accommodations, is based on the student's capacity to demonstrate Technical Standards and the clinical site inventory. There may be clinical site-specific essential functions that influence the program’s ability to place students in an appropriate clinical site.
Inclusion and Reasonable Accommodation
The Program is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible environment for all students and will ensure that students have access to college facilities, technology, and information needed to have an equal opportunity to succeed in their education. The Program will partner with Accommodation Specialists to develop accommodations to optimize access for students with disabilities.
All students must meet Technical Standards with or without reasonable accommodations throughout the Program. The Program is not able to grant accommodations that alter the educational standards of the curriculum or that impose an undue burden. Students are not required to disclose potential accommodation needs or requests before an admission decision.
Technical Standards are intended to provide clarity and direction; however, they do not override or replace any applicable federal laws or regulations. All decisions and actions taken based on Technical Standards will be made in a manner consistent with federal law, which shall take precedence in the event of any conflict.
Collaboration and Communication
Students should review the Technical Standards to determine if they require accommodation(s) to fully engage in the PTA curriculum. If accommodations may be needed, the student should contact the Center for Accessible Resources (CAR) to confidentially discuss their accommodation needs. Given the clinical nature of the Program, additional time may be needed to implement accommodation(s). Accommodations are never retroactive; therefore, timely requests are essential and encouraged.
What are the program’s Technical Standards?
Technical Standards provide every student with information about cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills, abilities, and behaviors essential for achieving program learning outcomes with or without reasonable accommodations. PTA program standards are categorized as follows:
Intellectual-Cognitive
Behavioral-Social
Communication
Observation and Awareness
Movement Functions
Professional Attributes
Students must have the capacity, with or without reasonable accommodation, to perform these standard-based skills throughout their enrollment in the program. Candidates for the physical therapist assistant degree must be able to demonstrate Technical Standards and behaviors consistent with the Standards of Ethical Conduct for the Physical Therapist Assistant.
Technical Standards should not serve as a deterrent to any prospective applicant with disabilities who desires to pursue education to become a PTA. Applicants with disabilities bring unique perspectives that contribute to the diversity of the prospective PTA student population and will create a diverse healthcare workforce of culturally competent practitioners who can meet the needs of patients and clients.
Students must interpret, assimilate, and understand complex curricular information, including, but not limited to, the ability to comprehend 3-dimensional relationships, understand the spatial relationships of structures, synthesize information both in person and remote via technology use, interpret data to make conclusions, and make evidence-informed decisions.
Students must possess the psychological ability required for the full utilization of their intellectual abilities, for the exercise of good judgment, for the completion of all responsibilities inherent to implementing the physical therapy plan of care, and for the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients, colleagues, and other health care providers. They must be able to tolerate physically and mentally taxing workloads and function effectively under stress. They must be able to adapt to a changing environment, display flexibility, and learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of patients and the greater healthcare context.
Students should be able to communicate with patients to elicit information, detect changes in mood and activity, and establish a therapeutic relationship. Students should be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients and all members of the healthcare team.
Students should be able to collect and accurately interpret information from classroom and clinical environments whether delivered in-person or remotely. In the clinical setting, students must be able to observe and assess patient performance and function and prevent injury to themselves and others. These skills require the use, or functional equivalent of the senses: hearing, vision, and/or touch.
Students must possess sufficient movement functions to effectively manage the patient encounter from plan of care review through intervention. Students must be able to provide general and therapeutic care that is safe for the patient, any caregivers, and themselves. This includes but is not limited to, the performance, description, or direction of others to safely lift, transfer, guard, and position patients. In addition, many physical therapy interventions require advanced hands-on skills to safely perform patient care including manual therapy, wound care, and treatments that use accessory devices, such as therapeutic aids and orthotics/prosthetics.
Students may be assisted by an untrained aide in performing certain physical functions, such as lifting and carrying, provided they are able to give the aide clear instructions to perform the physical function, and that the aide provides no assistance in behavioral or cognitive functions.
Students must maintain and display ethical behaviors commensurate with the role of a PTA in all interactions with patients, faculty, staff, students, clinical colleagues, and the public. The student is expected to understand the legal and ethical aspects of the scope of physical therapy and function within the legal, and ethical standards, and core values of the physical therapy profession. These abilities or attributes involve demonstrating behaviors consistent with ethical and legal standards and professionalism and abiding by clinical facility policies and procedures.
ADA and 504 Compliance
Nothing in these PTA Technical Standards should be read as a limitation on students’ rights under The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), nor do these PTA Technical Standards limit reasonable accommodations under the ADA and 504 Plans assessed by CAR.
Additional Resources
Explore the resources below to learn more about the physical, mental and emotional benefits and demands of physical therapy careers, and statewide immunization requirements for health professions students: