Physiotherapy Schools and Programs in The United States

Physiotherapy Studies in The United States

Are you interested in earning a degree that would allow you to pursue a career helping others?  Have you considered earning a portion of that degree while studying abroad in a country such as the United States?  The United States is renowned for the quality of its education programs and has scores of universities ranked among the world’s best, offering degree programs in a wide variety of disciplines, including physiotherapy.
 
The United States, or United States of America, is a federal republic consisting of 50 distinct states and a federal district.  The mainland portion of the United States, consisting of 48 contiguous states and the federal district of Washington D.C., is located in Central North America, wedged between Canada to the north and Mexico to the south.  The state of Alaska is situated in the northwestern part of the continent, and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean.  United States territory also includes five populated and nine unpopulated territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean.  With nearly 3.8 million square miles of land, the United States is the fourth-largest country in the world by total area, and its population, totaling roughly 317 million, makes it the third-most populated country in the world.
 
The United States is very ethnically and culturally diverse, and while English is considered the sole official language, many other languages can also be heard throughout the country, particularly Spanish, Mandarin and Korean, among others.  The geography and climate of the country are also extremely diverse, and is home to a wide variety of plants and wildlife.
 
The United States is a highly developed country and has the world’s largest national economy, with an estimated GDP in 2013 of 16.7 trillion—23 percent of the global nominal GDP and 19 percent when measured at purchasing power parity.  As a wealthy and successful nation, America relies on the strength of its workforce in a number of economic sectors—people who are educated and trained by the country’s excellent system of higher education.
 
Physiotherapy Education in the United States
 
The degree program known as Physiotherapy is offered by many universities throughout the United States at both the undergraduate and graduate level.  Undergraduate studies, leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiotherapy, generally span 4-5 years in duration depending on the institution, while the graduate programs, leading to the Master of Science degree in the discipline, usually take an additional 2-3 years to complete.
 
The Physiotherapy programs in the U.S. aim to educate and train students in the care and treatment of a wide range of conditions and injuries to the body through the use of various forms of passive mobilization, massage, electrotherapy and exercise.  Students who desire to practice Physiotherapy following graduation in the United States must initially undergo four years of intensive training and education, and pass a licensing examination in which they will be tested on the skills they learned while studying at the university.  In some states, students must also enter into a 1-2 year internship program in which they will practice Physiotherapy on patients under the supervision of a licensed practitioner.
 
During the course of their degree program, students studying Physiotherapy will learn techniques such as Manipulative Therapy, a specialty aimed at soothing injuries to the joints, such as a sprained ankle or rheumatoid arthritis.  In this technique, the hands are used to mobilize or gently move the joint or manipulate it using stronger movements to help reduce the pain and stiffness.  Students also learn about muscle imbalance re-education, in which an assessment of muscle imbalance is taken, followed by a program of age and strength-appropriate exercises aimed at re-educating the muscles to the point of full recovery and the prevention of further injury.
 
Why Study Abroad in United States
 
The United States is one of the most popular destinations for students studying abroad.  Not only does the country boast some of the world’s finest institutions of higher learning, complete with faculty that are internationally-renowned in their individual field of study, it is also home to a melting pot of ethnicities, cultures and languages, with people who celebrate education and diversity.  The United States is also popular among international students for its many sites, attractions, and entertainment venues—things to do and see outside of the classroom.  Some of the more popular destinations in the U.S. include:
 
Las Vegas Strip 
 
Students looking for a combination of excitement and relaxation will find everything they need at the world-famous Las Vegas Strip.  The most famous gambling center on the planet, Las Vegas is situated in the midst of the southern Nevada desert landscape.  Casinos can be found throughout Las Vegas, but the strip, a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South, contains most of the glitz and glitter. Among other exciting attractions, “the Strip” features giant mega-casino hotels, decorated with lavish care and attention to detail to create a fantasy-like atmosphere. The casinos have names like Luxor, the Mirage, Treasure Island, and New York-New York, and themes that evoke romance, mystery, and far-away destinations.
 
Florida Keys

From the far southwest to the far southeast, the Florida Keys are a 120-mile-long chain of tropical islands curving around the base of the Florida peninsula, connected to the mainland by a series of bridges. The most spectacular bridge, the Seven Mile Bridge in the Lower Keys, has been frequently used as a location for films, including True Lies and The Fast and the Furious. U.S. Highway 1, the “Overseas Highway” runs from Key Largo, through Islamadora, Marathon, and the Lower Keys, finally ending up in Key West, the most distant and most famous island in the Keys.

Kilauea 

For students who have an extended vacation, Kilauea, on the Hawaiian Islands, makes for an exciting sightseeing attraction.  Kilauea is the most recent of a series of volcanoes that have created the Hawaiian Archipelago. It is a very low, flat-shield volcano, vastly different in profile from the high, sharply sloping peaks of most other volcano sites. Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes on the Earth, and an invaluable resource for volcanologists. Thirty-three eruptions have taken place since 1952, and scientists predict there are many more to come in the upcoming decades.

Golden Gate Bridge

One of the most iconic and emblematic sites in the U.S., the Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the strait between San Francisco and Marin County to the north. The Golden Gate Bridge was the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed in 1937, and has become an internationally recognized symbol of San Francisco and California. The famous red-orange color of the bridge was specifically chosen to make the bridge more easily visible through the thick fog that frequently shrouds the bridge throughout the year.