If you’re considering applying to PT school, one of the first things to become aware of is that one of the mandated requirements to your application will be to have completed a certain number of observational hours within PT clinics.

This is a requirement of every PT school, and it’s important to know that each school’s requirements towards specific number of hours, specific number of clinics and the different types of clinical settings may in fact vary from one institution to the next. And even though these requirements may be unique from one institution to the next, the bottom line is that you will need to have some observational hours underneath your belt.

The quick overview of this article:

There are some key points that PT applicants need to know when it comes to collecting mandated observational hours within PT clinics. Knowing these key points can help ensure that there are no surprises when it comes to applying to your intended schools, and knowing how to best approach your observational hours can make the process way less stressful, way more enjoyable and way more beneficial!

Key point 1: Make sure you know the specific requirements for each school you want to apply to, as they may be different from one institution to the next.

Key point 2: It can sometimes be tricky to find facilities or clinics for getting your observational hours, so you want to know how to go about this if you’re having a hard time with this. I have a blog post, titled How to Find Clinical Observation Hours for PT Application Requirements which will help you on how to go about this. It has lots of great tips and insight for securing locations for collecting your volunteer/observational hours.

Key point 3: Begin your observational hours far in advance of your application deadlines.

Key point 4: Know what’s expected of you when you’re observing throughout all your clinical hours, particularly in regards to professionalism and conduct.

Key point 5: Ask if there are any particular ways you can help out the clinic while you’ll be around.

Key point 6: Use these hours to pick your PT’s brain on all things PT school – what to expect, how to be a more prepared student, and so on.

Key point 7: Make sure to keep a log of your hours and have your PT sign off on them on a daily or weekly basis.

Key point 8: Don’t put too much pressure on yourself – your PT was once in your shoes, and they understand what you’re going through.

Key point 9: Try to collect more than the minimum amount of hours required by you school.

Key point 10: When you’ve completed your hours at each clinic/facility, ask for a letter of recommendation. If you’ve been professional and helpful, you will get a great letter from the PT, which will help strengthen your application.

Keep reading on to learn more about clinical observational hour requirements and how you can leverage them to your advantage to get more out of them (including killer PT references).

Key point 1: Make sure you know the specific requirements for each school you want to apply to, as they may be different

Here’s your most important tip right off the bat: If you know which school(s) you’re wanting to apply to, make sure you know their clinical observational hours requirements.

Many schools require the applicant to have completed observational hours in at least two different clinics. Some schools require that the PT applicant have observational hours within an in-patient setting as well as an out-patient setting. Other schools only require two (or more) different clinics, but don’t have a mandate as towards which type of clinical environment they may be.

What’s important for you to know is what the requirements are for each school you’re applying to. If you have two different clinics you’ve observed in but neither were within an in-patient setting and the school requires in-patient observational hours, then you’re hooped when it comes to meeting the eligibility requirements to that school.

Likewise if one school you want to apply to requires a minimum of 200 collective hours of experience, and you collect 250 hours, then you’re eligible to be a successful applicant (assuming you’ve met all other application requirements) for that particular school. BUT, if the other school you’d like to apply to requires 300 hours, you won’t meet their application requirements. If this were to be the case, you’d then only be eligible for one school, which in a simplistic sense cuts your potential for application success in half.

How to quickly and confidently find the requirements for each school you’re interested in applying to

The easiest way to find out the observational requirements for each school that you are interested in applying to is by going to the PTCAS.org website, where you can determine requirements for each school.

You could also go to each school’s individual website and navigate to the program requirements from there, but my recommendation is to just use the PTCAS, as it will be way quicker and they will have all the information and links to each’s institutions PT department right on the PTCAS page.

So, make sure you know the requirements for each school you’re after so that there’s no last-minute surprises when it comes to realizing that you didn’t collect the right type of hours or didn’t collect the right amount of hours.

Key point 2: It can sometimes be tricky to find facilities or clinics for getting your observational hours, so you want to know how to go about this if you’re having a hard time with this.

I’ve written a separate blog post detailing how to go about requesting and securing observational opportunities, which you can read about here: How to Find Clinical Observation Hours for PT Application Requirements, so I won’t go into much detail in this current article in regards to how you can find clinics to let you observe (read the above article for that), but there are some other concepts that are still important to quickly touch on.

So, for this article, what’s important to know is that sometimes it can be tricky to find facilities and clinics that will allow you to complete your observational hours with them if you don’t have any PT’s that you know on a personal basis. Thankfully, there are some great steps you can take if you need to secure some hours and aren’t sure how to best go about doing so, so be sure to check out the article.

Key point 3: Begin to collect your observational hours far in advance of your application deadlines.

Once you know how many hours you need to collect, you can then calculate approximately how long it will take to log all of those hours, be it weeks or months. You will want to know how many hours per week you are able to commit to as well as how many hours a week the clinic is willing or able to let you observe.

If the clinic is able and/or willing to let you observe 40 hours a week, and you can safely commit to that, then go for it! It shouldn’t take too long to get your mandated hours at that rate.

But, if you are only able to collect a handful of hours per week (say 10 or 15), then keep in mind that it will take a greater length of time to complete the total number of hours you need. And while there’s absolutely nothing wrong with collecting a handful of hours each week, you don’t want to run out of time to collect them in regards to your PT school application deadlines.

The safe bet is to simply always begin to collect your hours as far in advance as possible. It’s not uncommon for PT school applicants to begin collecting hours 4 or 6 months in advance before even working on any other components of their application(s). What this does is afford you to develop good professional connections with those whom you shadow in the clinic, which will strengthen the letter of reference they will be willing to write you. Additionally, a stronger professional connection may result in professional employment opportunities with them when you complete PT school.

Lastly, getting your mandated hours collected well in advance of application deadlines will be way less stressful than trying to sneak them all in right before a deadline. Stress is the enemy.

Key point 4: Know what’s expected of you when you’re observing throughout all your clinical hours, particularly in regards to professionalism and conduct

Once you’ve secured facilities in which you can begin your observational hours, you need to remember a few key points:

The first major point to be aware of: You need to show the utmost extent of professionalism throughout every single hour of your volunteering/shadowing hours

The first (and most important) thing to remember is that even though you’re there as a volunteer/observer that there will still be certain expectations of you for when you’re in the clinic. These largely revolve around professionalism, and if you fail to abide by basic, professional standards, your hours may be cut short or the PT’s you observe under may not be willing to write you a letter of recommendation for your PT school applications.

The PT’s you shadow are not expecting you to know much or anything in regards to clinical practice, but they are expecting you to be an expert with professionalism. If you’re serious about representing yourself as a PT and thus representing the profession of PT, all therapists expect you to be professional.

What this means to you is that you are expected to be dressed professionally and appropriately for all observational hours, well groomed, punctual and on-time for every day arriving for your hours, and well-behaved in accordance with the clinic policies.

If you are deficient in any of these areas or have a hard time adhering to professional conduct, this is a red flag for therapists you may be shadowing, and you will be unlikely to receive a letter of recommendation from them or their colleagues.

The second major point to be aware of: Setting out observational hour expectations right away

Different clinics may have different expectations as to how you’re permitted to help out or interact with therapists and patients during your time at the clinic. PT’s understand that you’re there to collect your hours and try to learn about various aspects of clinical practice and the profession of physical therapy, but how this is expected to be done may be slightly different from one clinic to another or even from one PT to another PT within the same clinic.

This is therefore a topic that is worth discussing with any PT you may be shadowing once you first meet them. Asking them and having a clear understanding of when it’s ok for you to ask a question or chime in before you begin shadowing them is a good idea, as this can help your experience run much more smoothly for both you and the PT you’re with.

Some therapists are just fine with you asking as many questions as you’d like and whenever you’d like. Other therapists may prefer you to save all your questions until they are done with their patients. In either case, you are a guest within the facility and should abide by what the therapist requests.

Yes, you are there to observe and take in what you can, but you must have the cognizance to do so in a way that doesn’t interfere with the therapist’s treatment or care with the patient.

Asking lots of questions is good, and shows the therapist how eager you are to learn, but remember that there is a time and a place for questions, and not all questions should be asked while the therapist is interacting with or treating the patient.

A third point to be aware of: Sometimes a patient may need or want to be treated by the therapist without you around

Lastly, sometimes therapists treat patients who are either a bit more difficult to deal with or patients who are not comfortable talking about their medical conditions/situation with a student around. Don’t take it personally at all if a therapist needs to treat a patient by themselves or if a patient requests to only proceed with treatment with just the therapist around. This happens to just about all volunteer observers at some point, and even happens to PT students at times when they are on their actual clinical rotations within PT school.

Key point 5: Ask if there are any particular ways you can help out the clinic while you’ll be around

Part of shadowing within a PT clinic is helping out however you can. Not only is this a way of paying your dues for the clinic being gracious enough to let you collect your observation hours with them, but it also shows your willingness to be a team player, even if its with tasks that seem rather remedial and not-directly related to PT.

The fact is that part being a physical therapist is performing daily duties that help keep the clinic operating efficiently, keep things organized and running smoothly. It won’t look all that great if you don’t at least offer to help within the clinic however you can in conjunction to shadowing your PT as they work with patients. Learning what it takes to keep a facility running smoothly is in fact part of what your observation hours are for.

The bottom line is that any PT whom you shadow will be pleased to see that you’re willing to work hard and that you realize there is more to being a PT than just simply treating patients all day long. Displaying this awareness and willingness to help can be critical for not only ensuring that the PT write a strong letter of recommendation for you to send off with your PT school application, but also so that the PT keeps you on their radar for potential future employment opportunity if you hope to one day work at that facility. (No, it is never too early to start leveraging opportunities for future employment within a clinic).

Key point 6: Use these hours to pick your PT’s brain on all things PT school – what to expect, how to be a more prepared student, and so on.

If you’re going to be spending a lot of hours hanging out right alongside a PT, you might as well pick their brain on all that you can in regards to what to expect in PT school. Of course, only do this during the appropriate time(s) to do so.

Every PT will have unique insights and beliefs towards all things pertaining to PT school. Your job isn’t to necessarily agree or disagree with everything they may say, but rather just soak up all that they tell you, so that you can keep it in your back pocket as time goes on. There’s no harm in asking as many questions as appropriate and listening for themes and trends with what you may have already heard about PT school from other PT’s or PT students. It will help you out down the road when it comes to school and it will show the PT you’re working with that you’re truly interested in getting the most out of your shadowing and schooling experiences.

Is your PT mentor material? If so, try to keep in touch with them

It may also be a wise consideration to ask if you may keep in touch with them during your time in PT school as a means to help facilitate your learning, as they can serve as a mentor for you.

This is what I did throughout my time in PT school, and it served me well. Not only was it a way for me to gain insight from a PT I greatly looked up to, but it also served as a way for me to stay on their radar, allowing me to complete one of my clinical rotations at their facility and thereafter become an employee at their facility. Thank you so much, Tower Physiotherapy & Sports Medicine.

Key point 7: Make sure to keep a log of your hours and have your PT sign off on them on a daily or weekly basis

Keeping organized records is a pretty critical skill for a PT to have. It’s also a critical skill to have as a student and even an applicant.

You’ll be working hard to rack up all your volunteer hours, and having a written record that your PT can sign off on on a regular basis is important. This will help ensure that there’s no discrepancy when your hours are complete, and having a paper trail to go back on, if need be, will serve as a written record. You don’t need to submit this in your application, but rather it’s good to have to help ensure you and your PT are on the same page.

Ask your PT at the start of your volunteering if they would prefer to sign off on your hours on a daily basis, a weekly basis or some other predetermined interval.

Key point 8: Don’t put too much pressure on yourself – your PT was once in your same shoes

It can be an intimidating feeling to ask for volunteer hours and then set foot in a PT clinic, especially when you feel like you don’t even know much about how the world of PT works. Try your best not to feel any pressure when you’re collecting your hours. Every PT was once in your shoes, and they don’t expect you to have much (or even any) clinical knowledge at this point (but remember tip 4 in regards to professionalism). You are there for the experience and in no way are expected to contribute with knowledge or experience. You’re expected to soak it in as best as you can, but that’s the fun part!

Also, know that most PT’s LOVE to teach and work with aspiring PT’s. Perhaps some don’t, but if a specific PT that you reached out to is letting you collect some hours observing underneath them, then it’s likely because they love to teach, which is great news for you! You likely aren’t the first volunteer that the PT has had, and likely won’t be the last either, so keep all of these tips in mind if you’re still a bit anxious about heading into the clinic or facility.

Key point 9: Try to collect more than the minimum amount of hours required by you school

If at all possible, try to collect more than the minimum amount of required hours by the school(s) you’re applying to. There are a few key reasons for this:

1. You will simply have more time to soak up and learn what you otherwise wouldn’t if you just collect the minimum number of hours
2. Your PT’s that you shadow will see that you’re committed to learning as much as possible and helping them out as much as possible. They will take note of this and can be very favourable for you for potential future employment, creating a stronger mentorship and more professional connections
3. Your application will be stronger since you’ve gone above and beyond the minimal requirements. If two applicants who were otherwise equal candidates applied to the school, and one had twice the amount of required observational hours, the school would likely go with the applicant who has banked more hours of experience.

Key point 10: When you’ve completed your hours at each clinic/facility, ask for a letter of recommendation. If you’ve been professional and helpful, you will get a great letter from the PT, which will help strengthen your application

You likely know by now that any school that you apply to will require at least one (if not multiple) reference letters from physical therapists who can validate your volunteer hours, vouch for all aspects of your character, work experience and various other factors as to why you should be considered an ideal candidate for your school of choice.

For the vast majority of students, these reference letters come from therapists with whom the student completed their volunteer hours with in the clinic. This will likely be the case with you as well, which means you can get a killer reference from the therapist you just completed your volunteer hours with (because you were professional and worked hard, right?).

As well, ask the PT(s) if you can put them down on your resume (along with any other aspect of your application) as reference contacts in case you need to submit a resume in your application. This should go without saying, since they’ve written you a reference letter, but it never hurts to make certain, and let’s them know they may be contacted in the future by the institution(s) you’re applying to.

Concluding remarks

Volunteer hours within clinics are an amazing time of personal (and even professional) growth for those who are trying to meet their requirements for entry into PT school.Always remember that even though you’re there to learn and soak it all in, your volunteer hours are a great chance to practice multiple skills that are required to be a great PT, such as being dependable, punctual, being a team player and communicating well with others (just to name a few).

While you’re not getting paid for this time, if you keep the right mentality and show the PT’s that you’re very professional in addition to being eager, willing to learn and truly want to get into PT school, you’ll walk away with some amazing things. You’ll walk away with great experience, solid references references, new professional contacts, potential mentors and even a potential job opportunity in the future.

Essentially, you’ll be walking away with the key to open a new door to your future: A strong application to get yourself into PT school.
It’s all yours for the taking.

Grind hard and go make it happen!