Curriculum Changes

We have some exciting changes happening with the PTA program curriculum. You can find the curriculum from the program website or in the college catalog, and it will show the new curriculum once the 2017-2018 catalog is published online.

The new curriculum goes into effect as of the fall semester, 2017. Students who have completed general education courses that met the prior curriculum will not have to take any additional courses. In other words, if you completed the general education coursework that was necessary to meet the requirements for previous versions of the curriculum/college catalog, you will still meet the requirements for the new curriculum. Students who are just starting to work on courses would work on coursework based on the new curriculum.

While there are several changes we want to point out a couple of significant improvements in the program.

First, the total number of credits in the degree/program will decrease from 73, to 65. This will streamline the program, reduce costs, and bring the program in line with current state of Ohio guidelines. 

Several changes in general education courses have been made. Two courses, College Composition II and Physics for the Allied Health Sciences, have been removed from the curriculum. The Math course, Technical Mathematics has been removed and been replaced by Statistics. Again though - if you already took those courses, you meet the

In the professional/technical coursework, a new course called Foundations of Physical Therapist Assisting has been developed to provide more in-depth preparatory skills for the professional courses. Several minor credit adjustments (both up and down) and changes in scheduling were made in other professional courses which over time had been found necessary.

Overall, the faculty, staff, administration and advisory committee are all extremely supportive of the changes and feel that the program will be even stronger as a result.

Changed On-site Accreditation visit date

The Re-Accreditation visit scheduled for the program for October was cancelled by the accrediting agency. Unfortunately they had some trouble lining up enough site visitors to send and were unable to assemble a team. 

A new visit has been arranged for January 10-13th  2016.  We will keep the same days and times of meetings. (If you were scheduled for a Monday ta 3 PM, it will again be Monday at 3, just during the January dates instead.) If you were scheduled to be part of the visit you should be contacted by the program, or you can contact us by email or phone as noted on the program webpage. 

We apologize for the disruption, as does the accrediting agency but it was beyond their control. Hopefully you can still join us during the January visit instead!!

As always, the tremendous support of you in the community is what helps make this program work. Thank you.

The selection process for the Class of 2015 is beginning, and the applicant list has been received from Admissions and is being processed. Please watch your LCCC email account for information about selection and your status in the process. If you have any questions please contact the program director, Dr. Myers at 440-366-7881. Emails should be coming soon about whether or not students will be invited for interviews.

2014 Selection process starting

Student who have applied to the program for the class to enter in Fall of 2014 should check their LCCC email account for an email from the program and please respond ASAP.

application deadline closed/restarting

The last day to apply for the next class to begin is Nov 15^th, and the class to begin in the Fall Semester of 2014, the deadline has now passed. The Admissions Office is currently processing those applications, along with waiting for fall Semester grades to include in the cumulative GPA calculations for all students. That takes some time and means that faculty receive the list sometime early in Spring semester. We will then begin processing the list and notifying students if they will be offered an interview or not (the next part of the selection process) normally in about mid February if things run similar to previous years. I would suggest keeping an eye on your email once we get into mid to late January and after. Please make sure that if you have changed your contact information, especially email and phone number since you applied to the program, that you contact the admissions office to update it on your application. 

 

The applicant pool for the class to begin in 2015, is now open and persons wishing to apply for that group may now begin to do so.

Selection Interviews

We are starting the process of notifying students regarding the second phase of the selection process - whether students will be entered into the interview/writing phase or not.
Students who have applied for entry for the Fall semester of this year (2013) should be sure to check their email accounts (LCCC student accounts and personal accounts that were listed on file with their application) for letters and instructions as we notify students of their status.

Interested in a career in Physical Therapy? For those students who might be potentially interested in a career in Physical Therapy, but not yet sure  - we will be offering a new course starting in the Spring Semester of 2013.

The course is called "Career Exploration in Physical Therapy" and it is designed for those persons interested in exploring a possible career path in the field. It examines various physical therapy careers including required educational preparation, benefits, roles, responsibilities, and opportunities in the field. Physical therapy practice settings, treatments, patient populations and specialty areas of practice are explored. It is a one credit class, to help the interested student decide if the world of physical therapy might be the right field for her/him. It is NOT a required course for the PTA Program, and does not give any extra credit toward admission to the program, though it might help you decide if the program is right for you, and what is required of you in the program, and what is required for admission and successful completion. For any questions contact the Allied Health and Nursing counselors at X7677 or X4191, or the program director at X7881.

Continuing Education Course

We have a Continuing Education course on "Contemporary Topics for the Clinical Instructor " planned for:
March 24, 2012
June 16, 2012
Nov. 10, 2012
The course is a fund raiser for our Scholarship fund, It will provide 3 CEU's, for a suggested donation of $20. Topics include Cultural Competence, the Memorable Student, and Evidence Based Practice.
Contact the program faculty for more details!

Starting the selection - check your email

We have received the list of applicants from Enrollment Services and are starting to do our sorting. We are sending emails to each student to contact you electronically, and looking to get a response from you - please check the email that you gave when you applied for 2012 program entry, and respond to it, so that we know we can contact you by email to keep you informed, and possibly to set up interviews if you are one of the people selected for an interview.

Get Ohio CEU's For Being a Clinical instructor

Did you know that you can get PT/PTA CEU's for being a Clinical Instructor? The Ohio OTPTAT Board has changed the laws and rules to allow Clinical Instructors (providing you meet certain requirements) to receive CEU's for being Clinical Instructors to PT/PTA students. What a terrific benefit, huh?

Below is a copy of the text, taken verbatim from the Ohio laws and rules, under the section
"4755-23-08 Continuing education."
(Please see the link: http://www.otptat.ohio.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=hJuneqaoV8Y%3d&tabid=75 for more information)


"Serving as a clinical instructor will qualify for one contact hour for each eighty hours of clinical
instruction.
(a) To be eligible for continuing education credit in accordance with this paragraph, a physical
therapist must be an APTA certified level I or level II clinical instructor and a physical therapist assistant
must be an APTA certified level I clinical instructor.
(b) A physical therapist may earn up to twelve contact hours per renewal cycle by serving as a
clinical instructor.
(c) A physical therapist assistant may earn up to six contact hours per renewal cycle by serving
as a clinical instructor.
(d) Proof of clinical instruction is a certificate from the student’s school documenting the
number of hours of clinical supervision completed.
(6) Serving as a mentor in an APTA accredited clinical residency or fellowship program will qualify for
one contact hour for each three hours of mentorship.
(a) To be eligible for continuing education credit in accordance with this paragraph, a physical
therapist must meet one of the following criteria:
(i) Currently certified as an APTA certified level I or level II clinical instructor; or
(ii) Currently hold a specialty certification issued by the American board of physical therapy
specialties (ABPTS) or by the hand therapy certification commission (HTCC).
(b) A physical therapist may earn up to twelve contact hours per renewal cycle by serving as a
mentor.
(c) Proof of mentorship is a certificate from the director of the clinical residency or fellowship
documenting the number of hours of mentorship completed.
(7) Continuing education activities identified in paragraph (G) of this rule do not require an Ohio
approval number. Continuing education will be granted in the reporting period in which the academic coursework,
clinical instruction, mentoring, tool, residency, or fellowship is completed."

Congrats Graduating Class of 2011 - Test Results

Congrats to the 18 graduates - all 18 of them passed their licensing exam on the first attempt. WOW! Great job!! That's not an easy thing to do - we are very proud of all of you!

Is there a Doctor in the house?

It's official - John and Jim are now Dr. John and Dr. Jim.
We've completed our Doctorates of Physical Therapy and graduated! Yea!

Why is Math Important?

A student called and left me a voice mail and asked "why is there so much math in the program? Why is it important?" The student referenced the two courses, Technical Math, and Physics for the Allied Health Sciences. I suppose "so much" is a relative term, depending on your perspective. Personally I wouldn't consider two courses a huge amount, but if you hate math and physics, you might. Nonetheless, there really are some pretty functional reasons why they are included in the curriculum. Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants use math on daily level. When you work with patients, you are constanting thinking about and calculating weights, and forces. The patient is 25% weight bearing - how much weight can they place on that injured leg? We are reading and writing and dealing with units in the medical literature and in patient charts that are both in metric and standard values and need to convert them back and forth. We have a lardge body of scientific literature chock full of numbers and statistics that we have to be able to read and understand, and a passing knowledge of math is necessary for that. We administer drugs to patients via iontophoresis, and I certainly will not allow any student who can't do math to pass a skill with such important consequences unless they can demonstrate the knowledge underlying it. We create ratios, for example with sensory testing (15 out of 18 attempts today, 12 of 15 attempts at previous visit - so is the patient getting better or worse?). These are just a few examples of course, but it gives a sense of why we need math.

Interviews

We are starting to schedule interviews for March

We are trying to save postage, time, paper. We are using your listed email (if you had one listed at the time of application) as the preferred method to contact you regarding your interview time.
PLEASE be sure to check your emails.
We may also be calling to leave a message to ASK for your email address in order to send you the letter with the interview information.

We will notify those who will NOT be offered an interview as soon as possible. Please remember that if you are not offered an interview, you MUST complete another program application to be considered for next year. The applicant pool was again about 140 valid applicants this year.

For more information on the program and selection process, please carefully review the Frequently Asked Questions sections of the Program website:
http://www.lorainccc.edu/Academic+Divisions/Allied+Health+and+Nursing/Allied+Health+and+Nursing+Programs/Physical+Therapist+Assistant.htm

Thank you - Class of 2010

Graduating Class of 2010 -
Thank you for your generous gift to the LCCC PTA Scholarship fund.....
That was really terrific of you all.
We can't possibly thank you enough.
Your kindness and thoughtfulness lives on!!

Almost Graduation

Congratulations.

I'll tell you what - these ladies and gentleman DESERVE it....

When you have 2 years with a group of students, it's different than just teaching them a class or two.
You get to see them go go from the starting point, and help mold them into a complete professional; see them go from not really knowing their craft at all to going to ready to take their exams and start work.

It makes you a bit sad to see them go because you have really gotten to know them, to admire them, respect them and like them.

They work SO hard - more than almost anyone understands. They sacrifice, they make amazing strides personally and professionally, they go much more than they let on to achieve this dream. They learn so much in such a short period of time - more than they or anyone else can imagine - and it's them doing the work. The faculty can't teach it all, all we can do is give them some of the knowledge, and then guide and mentor and facilitate and lead them to the rest. But THEY do the real work and deserve the real credit. They work harder than people could ever know, care more than most realize and contribute more to the community than one could ever imagine.

We're REAL proud of them. And it's an honor to be a part of that.

Spring semester update

The senior students continue to do an OUTSTANDING job out there in the clinicals. The feedback from the Clinical Instructors is tremendous, the CPI's look GREAT, the excited emails I get from the students themselves are terrific fun, (though Jim gets to have the fun of actually spending time in the clinics with them), the feedback from employers (see attached survey) is right on target with previous years, and the patient survey results are excellent (see attached survey). Nice job, all of you. We can't possibly thank everyone, but the entire community is REALLY responsible - the faculty, students, patients who graciously allow our students to work with them, the clinical sites who are so accommodating in placing students and arranging excellent learning experiences, the dedicated Clinical Instructors....it really is a team effort.

First year students are doing a lot of nail biting with Functional Anatomy and their second Procedures course. It's a LOT of work. Oh did we mention that it's a LOT of work?!!

Interviews for the class to enter next year are ongoing.....looks like another tough decision on our part - thanks goodness it comes down to a point system.

John and Jim are wrapping up another tough semester in their doctoral program, having researched and developed a VERY lengthy and detailed research project and proposal related to selection criteria in PTA programs, especially the effects of generic professional behaviors on the selection process in PTA Programs. This was particularly enlightening given what we're going through at the moment.

Program Interviews

Notifications for interviews are going out by email and/or "snail mail" this week. Please read any notices VERY carefully for full information and instructions as appropriate.

There was a larger than normal pool this year of extremely qualified applicants, and all who applied can be proud of what they have accomplished so far. However with a large pool and limited spaces, only some can progress to the next phase of selection, based on the selection process as noted in the FAQ's and admission criteria. Please be aware that we must stick firmly to the selection criteria, and therefore cannot consider outside influences such as unsolicted reference letters, requests for reconsideration based on information unrelated to the application materials, etc. Failure to progress to the next phase of the selection process is based simply on the volume of applicants, and a points system as specified. Please also understand there is a large volume of communication we must do in notifying all of their staus, scheduling interviews, etc while we continue to teach, administer the program, handle clinicals, and do all the other day to day parts of the program. Reading and following the instructions in your notification is essential to avoid unnecessary delays for everyone. Thank you for your understanding.

Welcome to Spring Semester

First Year Students are heading into Functional Anatomy and their second procedures course - whew! Second Year Students will be packing in almost 16 weeks of lecture and labs into 4 condensed weeks before heading out to clinicals full time for 10 weeks - almost done folks!!

I JUST NOW received the list of applicants for next year....a large pool - it will take a while for the program to process this list and come up with the interview list - please be patient - especially considering that the first 4 weeks of the semester are pretty crazy for the faculty with teaching and all the other things that go into getting the semester rolling.

WOW!!!

Congratulations to the 2009 graduating class!!!!

They attained a PERFECT "first-time pass rate" of 100% on their license exams.

In other words - every single graduate passed their license exam on the first try.....that's an amazing accomplishment - you all deserve a LOT of recognition for that! GREAT JOB!!!

Check out the new "LibGuide for Physical Therapy" available through the LCCC Library homepage, created by the always amazing Susan Paul:
http://libguides.lorainccc.edu/physicaltherapy

We are really lucky to have some of the best facilities, resources, and Librians/faculty/staff here at LCCC. They're always doing something new, cutting edge, or just plain helpful. Students come back and tell me about how they spends HOURS with them helping them determine if a journal article meets an assignment guideline, or helping them find JUST the RIGHT rersearch for a topic.
Or The PTA faculty will request a book for the library shelves, and Susan comes back with 3 more suggested books she found. Sometimes they don't get enough thanks - so here you go!


A couple more updates -
The second year students are going crazy fundraising. Great job guys!

Service learning projects are in full swing by both first and second year students - thanks to all of you who participate. It makes a difference you know. You have an impact on people.

Jim and John are knee deep in research data and methods in their next course in their doctoral program.

Welcome to our new lab assistant Marlo. She's a keeper!

And lastly, for all you prospective students - remember that the application deadline for a completed program application is Nov 15th.

Value -
It's great to have it reinforced sometimes - what a TERRIFIC value for the dollar public education can be in ohio - especially at the community college level. Here at LCCC, we are lucky to have the support of our local community through a levy, plus the support of the state, as well as student tuition support. That helps keeps costs extremely affordable for a high-quality education. Our PTA program is estimated to cost about $6,600 for the entire two-year program.
A student we know was just offered a place in a new Ohio private, for-profit, program. The cost of the program for 2 years as quoted to him? $38,000
What else can you say, but -
WOW.

NEW APTA Guidelines:
The APTA has released updated Guidelines regarding Student/New Graduate Employment Agreements. The PTA program at LCCC has incorporated these guidelines into written program policies.
The 2008 House of Delegates policies, Guidelines: Student/New Graduate Employment Agreements (HOD G06-08-08-09) assist students, new graduates and potential employers in negotiating agreements to provide financial or tuition assistance in return for contracted employment after graduation. The guidelines recommend that all parties seek approopriate legal advise ahead of time, and give suggestions about what agreements should contain.
Please also note that it has always been the long-standing position and policy of the PTA Program at LCCC that student education is not best-served by a student fulfilling any part of their clinical interships in a facility where they work. Students are assigned to a specified variety of types of clinical sites during their internships (called practicums by course name) by program policy, and also to a variety of employers/sites/locations/instructors to best achieve the well-rounded education required of the entry-level clinician.

CONGRATS TO THE 17 NEW GRADUATES OF THE CLASS OF 2009!!
You've shown tremendous strength, compassion, empathy, professionalism, personality, humor, skills, knowledge, friendship and so much more. We're proud of you all and we'll miss you.

The NEW incoming class for Fall semester 2009 has been selected and notified, as have those who unfortunately, were not able to be offered a position. The selection committee works very hard on those decisions, and they are never easy. We offer our congratulations to those who will be joining us, extend our regards to those who must try again or choose a different path for themselves.

Based on some telephone call questions I have received recently and another regarding a local TV news report that was described to me, I would like to clarify something for those who might be unclear. PTA programs are offered by an education program accredited by an agency or association recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The institution is authorized by law to provide a program of postsecondary education. The institution has been approved by appropriate authorities to provide the physical therapist assistant education degree program. Some priopritary or for-profit colleges have been able to seek and achieve the necessary accreditation at the national educational and Commision on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education levels in order to offer the PTA degree program. However, most health care facilities, private clinics, hospitals, continuing education providers, short-term vocational training providers, or other such entities are not suitably accredited, associate-degree granting colleges and universities capable of offering the PTA degree program on their own. When in doubt please refer to http://www.apta.org/ under the education section for a list of accredited PTA programs (or PT programs, if your preference is to become a physical therapist rather than a physical therapist assistant).

Speaking of becoming a PTA, recent federal data from the US Department of Labor "Occupational Supply Demand System Data" indicates an estimated increase in need of 32.4% for PTA's over the years 2006 to 2016.
The estimate includes both replacement jobs for those leaving the field and new growth in jobs and shows an average need for new PTA's of 2,730 per year across the country. A 32% growth rate is considered QUITE high, by the way!
That's good news.
The other side of the coin is that schools are doing an excellent job of keeping up with demand -
PTA programs are currently producing 4,376 graduates per year. (So nationally, schools are producing roughly 1,600 MORE PTAs than current demand for new and replacement needs.) So we should be in good shape to meet any shortages. See the link for the data tables: https://mymail.lorainccc.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.occsupplydemand.org/OSD_DemandState.aspx?CLUSCODE=146A-08%26ST=ZZ%26PathNo=1%26sst=0


On a personal note, both John and Jim are in the process of completing the necessary coursework and application materials for starting their doctoral program.

The Physical Therapist Assistant Program at LCCC is VERY pleased to announce the initiation of a scholarship fund for LCCC PTA students. This was made possible by two gifts, one from the Notheast District of the Ohio Physical Therapy Association, and one from the PTA Program Faculty.
Over time, our hope is is that the fund will be to help support first year students with funds for books, fees and tuition awards.

Alumni, families, employers, clinical sites or other community members and supporters of the program are certainly welcome to make a donation to the fund. Donations would be directed to:

LCCC Foundation
c/o Physical Therapist Assistant Scholarship
1005 Abbe Rd. North
Elyria OH 44035