Physical TherapyFour Year Pre-requisite plan

 

Physical Therapy Four Year Plan

For many Physical Therapy programs, all prerequisite courses must be completed by the time of application. For example, if an applicant applied in the summer following their junior year, all pre-requisite requirements would need to be completed by the end of the junior year.

Consult the The American Physical Therapy Association, Inc. website https://ptcasdirectory.apta.org/39/List-of-PTCAS-Programs to view a list of accredited Physical Therapy Program and the requirements and admission statistics for the 175+ Physical Therapy programs.

PTCAS Comparison of Course Prerequisities by Program: https://ptcasdirectory.apta.org/5287/Comparison-of-Course-Prerequisites-by-Program

*Course sequence will vary by major. 

First Year: Fall

BIO 110 Principles of Biology & BIO 111 Lab 

*CHE 110 General Chemistry & CHE 111 General Chemistry Lab OR CHE 105 Foundations of Chemistry I & CHE 106 Foundations of Chemistry I Lab  (Recommend taking BOTH the BIO110/111 and CHE110/111 in first year if planning on a Biology being a major)

**Before you can register for CHE 110, you are required to take the Chemistry placement exam. (CHE 105/106 offered Fall only and CHE 107/108 offered Spring only) taking both are equivalent to CHE 110. Find out more about the CHE placement exam, click here.

FTS 100 (Writing Intensive course-WRIT)

PSY 100 Introductory Psychology (offered both Fall and Spring, flexible)



First Year: Spring

BIO 120 Organismal Biology & BIO 121 Lab

CHE 120 Organic Chemistry I & CHE 121 Organic Chemistry I Lab (offered Spring only) (Recommended taking BOTH BIO 120/121 and CHE 120/121 in first year if planning on being a Biology major, pre-requisite for BIO 250 and BIO 260)


Second Year: Fall

HES 230 Human Anatomy & Physiology I & HES 231 Human Anatomy & Physiology I Lab (offered Fall only)

*CHE 110 General Chemistry (DAT) & CHE 111 General Chemistry Lab (or First Year Fall, see note on BIO major)


Second Year: Spring

HES 240 Anatomy & Physiology II & HES 241 Anatomy & Physiology II Lab (offered Spring only)

CHE 120 Organic Chemistry I (DAT) & CHE 121 Organic Chemistry I Lab (or First Year Spring, see note on BIO major)

PSY 241 Abnormal Psychology


Third Year: Fall

PHY 120 General Physics I & PSY 121 General Physics I Lab (offered Fall only)

MCS 142 Introduction to Statistics (or *equivalent, not E/M- 125)

 *All MN PT programs accept HES 220 Research and Stats (Fall only)
 *All MN PT programs accept PSY 224 Statistics and Research Methods I
 *Majority of MN PT programs accept MCS 140 Elementary Statistics (U of M does NOT accept MCS 140 as equivalent)

HES 214 Medical Terminology


Third Year: Spring

PHY 170 General Physics II & PHY 171 General Physics II Lab (offered Spring only)

HES 212 Lifespan Development (offered Fall and Spring) 


Fourth Year Fall:

English (including composition)*Creighton requirement


Pre-requisite Requirements MN Physical Therapy Programs:

  • College of St. Scholastica  Lifespan Development required.  Observation hours: While no specific number of observation hours is required, applicants are expected to have researched the profession sufficiently to demonstrate that they are making a career choice based on a sound understanding of the role of the PT. Verified observations must be completed post-high school and entered into PTCAS. 
  • Mayo Clinic  Work and/or observation experience: A minimum of 40 hours of observation or work experience in a physical therapy setting is needed prior to starting the program (varied practice settings). 100 hours is preferred. For Biological science requirement: BIO 101, BIO 102, HES 234, HES 235 is accepted, confirmed with John H. Hollman, PT, PhD | Program Director | Program in Physical Therapy.

St. Catherine University  Minimum of 40 hours of obseration. We will accept AP credits for statistics and general psychology. To verify results, applicants must submit official College Board scores directly to St. Catherine University. We will consider courses completed in an online format from a regionally accredited institution. However, we encourage students to complete courses that include a lab component in a face-to-face format, if possible.


  • University of Minnesota  One semester of an additional math course required: Algebra, Trigonometry, Pre-calculus, Calculus (calculus is strongly recommended). Two semester Psychology required, courses need to be: Psy 100 and Abnormal Psy (PSY 241), Lifespan or Developmental Psychology will not count towards this requirement. Medical Terminology is accepted as P/F. 40 observation hours in a clinical physical therapy setting (work, volunteer, or shadow). Exposure to multiple and varied areas of PT practice is highly recommended. Only two prerequisites may be incomplete when the application is submitted.



Consult the The American Physical Therapy Association, Inc. website https://ptcasdirectory.apta.org/39/List-of-PTCAS-Programs to view a list of accredited Physical Therapy Program and the requirements and admission statistics for the 175+ Physical Therapy programs.

PTCAS Comparison of Course Prerequisities by Program: https://ptcasdirectory.apta.org/5287/Comparison-of-Course-Prerequisites-by-Program


Updated 8/7/20224 HS