National Physical Therapy Month is a celebration held every October by the American Physical Therapy Association.  The goal is to raise awareness of and recognize the important roles that physical therapists and physical therapist assistants play in helping people maintain, improve and restore the mobility necessary to stay fit, active, and independent.

The Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) students at Colby Community College participated in several events during the month as part of the annual recognition of practitioners.

“The students held massage clinics five times during October,” said Program Director Pat Erickson.  “They also assisted with the Sheridan County Health Fair on Oct. 5 and the Thomas County Health Fair on Oct. 8.”

PTA students attended a talk given by a speaker with a traumatic brain injury on Oct 24, and participated in a webinar on Documentation Essentials in Rehabilitation on Oct. 27.

The students will participate in the Town Meeting for the  Kansas Physical Therapy Association on Nov. 3.

The PTA program at the college is planned in accordance with the established standards of the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Upon satisfactory completion of this program, the student receives an Associate of Applied Science Degree and qualifies to take a state certification examination. The curriculum is arranged in a 1 + 1 format. The freshman year (pre-PTA) is open to all students and consists of core courses. Admission to the sophomore year is limited. An interview process occurs each spring before the start of the sophomore year. The licensing board pass rate (3-year average) is 93 percent for CCC graduates.

Although students cannot be guaranteed placement in every location, the current starting wages for a PTA graduate ranges from $18-$25 per hour in Kansas and neighboring states.

Erickson, who has a doctoral degree in physical therapy, has been the director of the program since 1989.  Licensed physical therapist assistant Kathy Robert, a graduate of the CCC program, has been an instructor in the program since 1994.