Seeking a Volunteer Opportunity for PTA Requirement in New Jersey

Hello,

I live in Teaneck, NJ and I'm enrolled at UCC. I'm required to volunteer at a physical therapy related department/clinic for a minimum of 25 hours before applying to the actual PTA program.

I've been looking locally and also at nearby hospitals without any luck. I am motivated to learn about the work environment and the basic day to day functions in a PT setting so I am planning to volunteer more than the minimum.

Can anyone advise or does anyone on this forum need assistance? I am a responsible and hard working individual. I also have a bachelor's in accounting so I worked in an environment which required detail and organization. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.

You really shouldn't need much help to get in to a place. The key is to visit places IN PERSON. Hospitals are the most difficult, they tend to be loaded with red tape. Make sure you visit the therapy department directly, going to voluteer services will be a total time waster, they likely won't even understand what it is you want.

Try outpatient. Those are easy to get into. Make a list of places in your area. Dress nicely, set aside an afternoon, and visit them. You will have a spot by that afternoon, I can almost guarantee it.

If you have been rejected in person, then it is just bad luck. I got rejected at the first three places I went to. Luckily, I got accepted at all of the next three. Keep trying and you will find a place. Persistence and showing up in person are the keys...

Thanks for the advice, I've just visited a few hospitals and a rehab center. I will check around for outpatient clinics. Hope to get some work soon.

Good luck

Hi DJ Saw -- It's been 7 months after your post. I am planning to attend UCC and apply for the PHTA curriculum next spring 2013. I am also a second career changer. How did the volunteering go and how is the PHTA program going for you. Any advise would help.

Thank you.

Hello Mr. Mo,

Yes, it's been awhile since my last post that I completely forgot I posted here LOL.

Anyway I took the advice of Future PTA and found a place to volunteer. I had to get a physical and a drug test, but the director was really nice and flexible. I volunteered at a sub-acute facility with mostly elderly patients.

Since I transfered most of the prerequisite courses from my previous major, I went to UCC as a part-timer last year. Waiting to get the acceptance letter for the program was a bit unnerving, but I was able to get in. As a second career changer I feel my back is against the wall because I don't want to go back to my old career and I'm still not sure if this is the right career move for myself. Still, the only way to know is to try.

Orientation for the program was actually yesterday and I start my first class tomorrow. There are 32 students each year, but we met with the previous year's students and only 19 were left. One of the professors also stated that 1/3 of us will not make it to graduation and having a part-time job is not recommended. She said we need to have a mindset that we are in graduate school and to not take things for granted just because it is an associate's degree program. One of the students from last year said that he got straight A's in school, but could not get one A in the program. As usual, registering, financial aid, and purchasing books has been hectic, but it will probably be a quick year like most years. I hope to buckle down and focus on my studies so that I can graduate next year!

To get into the program you will need to finish your volunteer work and get good grades from your prerequisites. It's a bit obvious, but I do recommend that you try hard to get A's in your prerequisite courses as the acceptance process is highly competitive. I wish you good luck and if you have any further questions, feel free to ask and I will try to answer with the best of my knowledge.

Regards,
DJ Saw

Hi DJ Saw,

Congratulations to getting in the PHTA program at UCC! It's great that you are pursuing the program even if you're not sure if it is the right career choice but, maybe things will be for the better. PTA is a very recession proof profession and one can go anywhere in the US with this career. I realized you are going to be busy soon so, I just have a few questions regarding the UCC experience.

Since you already have a Bachelors degree in accounting, were you able to apply for FAFSA? How much is the cost of the program, is it based on per credit depending of your residency or is it a flat fee for everybody? I graduated William Paterson Univ in 2003, my prerequisites courses are over 10 years old and I just need to take A&P I, will the rest carry over to UCC? Do you have to be enrolled part time at UCC taking prerequisite courses before you can do volunteer work at a sub-acute facility?

I wish you good luck too and enjoy your time in UCC and beyond.

Thanks,
Mr. Mo

Mr. Mo,

Thanks for the comments. When I applied for FAFSA, I was told that I may have exceeded the total amount of undergraduate aid that I could borrow since I had a bachelor's, but I was still able to get an unsubsidized loan that was enough to pay for my tuition and books for the Spring semester. I will need to apply for the 2012'2013 FAFSA to see if I'm eligible for aid in the fall and next spring. I also took out a private student loan at a bank to cover living expenses, but I'm having trouble with the school for disbursement. The cost of the program is per credit basis and I pay more since I'm out of county. You will probably need to check with a counselor about transferring credits. I took Bio 105, English and math more than ten years ago, but they accepted it. Still, I took a psychology honors class at another community college and they didn't except it for Psych 101 which was disappointing. I actually took a Psych. CLEP exam at William Paterson last year to get credit for it. It's probably a good idea to be enrolled at the school and declare that you're trying to get into the PTA program before starting the volunteer work.

My first day has already been quite hectic!

Good luck to you as well!

-DJ Saw

Thank you for all your answers about the PHTA program in UCC. It is great to know all of these information before I can enroll. Please do update us at the end of the semester on your progress :)

Regards,
Mr. Mo

Thank you for all your answers about the PHTA program in UCC. It is great to know all of these information before I can enroll. Please do update us at the end of the semester on your progress :)

Regards,
Mr. Mo

Sure, no problem!

I just finished my first full week and it is quite a workload! I see how being very organized helps right now.

By the way, I was going to school part-time last year and one thing I wish now is that I should have briefly looked into some physical therapy books. If you have time before you get into the program, it will definitely help even though you may not understand everything by the readings, you're going to find out that there are many new terms that you need to know and it won't hurt to take a look at them.

-DJ Saw

DJ SAW, I am also thinking of doing the PTA program but I have to work during the day. Are all the classes only offered during the day?

Sallyr,

I can't say how the schedule is like every year, but this year all the classes are in the morning and they are long so they last until the late afternoon.

It is also not recommended to work part time. People who are not even working like me are having difficulties with time management. I can't imagine having a job right now. I recommend getting a loan to pay for your tuition and living expenses or use money that you may have in savings. Also grants are available if you are eligible. It's a tough decision to make and it's not impossible if you really need to work as I know that there have been successful graduates of the program who had part time jobs.

Hope this helps.

-DJ SAW

DJ Saw in Teaneck, New Jersey said: Sallyr,

I can't say how the schedule is like every year, but this year all the classes are in the morning and they are long so they last until the late afternoon.

It is also not recommended to work part time. People who are not even working like me are having difficulties with time management. I can't imagine having a job right now. I recommend getting a loan to pay for your tuition and living expenses or use money that you may have in savings. Also grants are available if you are eligible. It's a tough decision to make and it's not impossible if you really need to work as I know that there have been successful graduates of the program who had part time jobs.

Hope this helps.

-DJ SAW

Hey Sallyr and DJ, i'm also currently attenting UCC. I had a job with a good pay couple months prior and thought, hmmm, maybe i can just go to school part-time and finish all my prerequisites with no rush. Bad idea, my job was was in a finacial crisis and i eventually left. Whats more sad is now i have to stack up on all my classes because im hoping on getting into the program next spring (2013) I'm taking my Bio 105-106 in the summer express course, just to catch up. I heard it's intense but those are the only classes i'm actually more focused on. I have finished most of the prereqs just gotta finish all the reuiered ones before applying for the program. I had to take a loan out though for the summer since there isn't any fininacial aid. Are any of you applying for next years as well? Let me hear from you.

Yohan

Hey Sallyr and DJ, i'm also currently attenting UCC. I had a job with a good pay couple months prior and thought, hmmm, maybe i can just go to school part-time and finish all my prerequisites with no rush. Bad idea, my job was was in a finacial crisis and i eventually left. Whats more sad is now i have to stack up on all my classes because im hoping on getting into the program next spring (2013) I'm taking my Bio 105-106 in the summer express course, just to catch up. I heard it's intense but those are the only classes i'm actually more focused on. I have finished most of the prereqs just gotta finish all the reuiered ones before applying for the program. I had to take a loan out though for the summer since there isn't any fininacial aid. Are any of you applying for next years as well? Let me hear from you.

Yohan