Heartland’s physical therapist assistant program ready to launch

[August 20, 2015]   NORMAL - The physical therapist assistant (PTA) program at Heartland Community College is set to begin in the 2016 spring semester. To launch the program, Heartland completed a rigorous process culminating in candidacy status being awarded as of July 21, 2015 from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education.*

The program is currently in the process of developing and submitting the necessary data that will be utilized in the progression towards achieving full accreditation. Sixteen students are accepted into the program each year, with the first application process having been completed Aug 1.

According to Dean of Health and Human Services, Becky LaMont, “The need for a PTA program was identified in a collaborative visioning effort in 2012, and Heartland was happy to respond to that demand.”

PTAs provide physical therapy treatments and procedures under the direction and supervision of a licensed physical therapist. Students complete 23 hours of general coursework prior to admittance into the program, followed by 43 hours of technical and clinical education courses.

Heartland has relationships with 31 different clinical sites including hospitals, nursing facilities, outpatient clinics, school systems and sports medicine clinics. A majority of these are within Heartland’s district, but also include sites in Springfield, Champaign and Decatur.

On site, the Normal campus has a fully-equipped facility. “We have everything you would find in a ‘real’ physical therapy clinical environment,” explained Daryl Menke, PTA program coordinator. “Students are provided learning and lab experiences needed to hone their skills and provide interventions that will guide and promote the health, well-being and life of the patient/clients served through the restoration and enhancement of movement and function."

More information about HCC’s PTA program is available at https://www.heartland.edu/ catalog/pta/.

*Candidate for Accreditation Status: Effective July 21, 2015, Heartland Community College has been granted Candidate for Accreditation status by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (1111 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, VA, 22314; phone: [phone]; email: [e-mail] ). Candidate for Accreditation is a pre-accreditation status of affiliation with the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education that indicates that the program is progressing toward accreditation and may matriculate students in technical/professional courses. Candidate for Accreditation is not an accreditation status nor does it assure eventual accreditation.

[Becky Gropp, Heartland Community College]