Ok really how am I going to pay off these damn loans?

1. Scholarships? Few and far between. I have a scholarship for 10K/year at my school now but it just skims the surface of my $40K/year tuition. But I'm not complaining.

Board of Education of NYC provides one year of tuition in exchange for 24 months of services. If you get 2 years covered, that's 48 months. You provide services in a high-needs area of NYC. Not a bad deal if money is a real issue. Here is the application.

I'm going to try this one. Small but everything counts in small amounts! Hazing Awareness Scholarships.

APTA provides some scholarships. If one of their visions is to promote cultural diversity in the profession, they need to think about more minority scholarships (brilliant idea from one of my classmates)!

Other scholarship opportunities.

2. Pray that the loan forgiveness program comes to fruition.

3. Minimize debt. Do what you can without impacting your studies - part-time job, graduate assistant job, bring your own lunches/coffee/tea to school, consider doing research to earn scholarships, bike/walk to school.

4. Prepare. Know what you are getting yourself into. Here's a loan calculator. Be realistic about how much you will make when you are done and how long it will take to pay off your loans. This might help with planning your time in DPT school.

Picture from Forgivemystudentloans.com

Is working out a requirement for physical therapy school?

Is working out a requirement for physical therapy school? I had no impression that physical therapists had to be uber fit or had to go to the gym regularly. I volunteered at a community hospital and a sub-acute rehab center. The therapists were average, not fat, but not super fit...definitely some bellies. Basically I had no impression that I had to go to the gym as a requirement to be a physical therapist. Then I arrived at DPT school.... During the first week, my professor wanted to show us something cool so he asked for a volunteer. My classmate goes to the front of the room, takes his t-shirt off and I swear I gasped. His abs were so ripped, it looked like a xylophone. I joked with my girlfriends at home that his abs were so rock solid, it would ting if I hit it with a drum stick. You bet your bottom everyone started hitting the gym hard after that day. Me included.

With all that said, nope, I don't think you need to go to the gum regularly in order to be a PT. But in PT school, you better be confident with your body image because I spend at least 1 class a week in a skimpy tank top and shorts. Sometimes, I'm required to wear a bikini top. Ugh. No exceptions except for religious reasons.

Once you get past school, then it's just good ol' body mechanics. Making sure you are not using your arms and back when you should be using your body to work with the patient. Getting down to your patients level so you are not lifting from the back but rather those legs and core. I remember asking one of the working PTs, if she works out. She laughed at me and said "...with what time or energy."

Up to you to decide if the gym is your thing.

Photo of woman from Sydney Morning Herald.

Photo of xylophone from this site.