Applicants wishing to apply to a physical therapy program within the US are often required to complete a specific number of prerequisite observational hours within PT clinics as part of the application process. Every school has different requirements, with some schools requiring more hours than others, or some schools not even requiring any hours.

It’s therefore very important for an applicant to have a clear understanding of any and all requirements for observational hours pertaining to each institution that they wish to apply to. This can save the applicant from a tremendous amount of confusion and frustration throughout the application process.

The quick answer of how many observational hours are needed for PT applicants

According to the 2019-2020 Observation Hours Sheet provided by the PTCAS, the mean observational hour requirements across 238 PTCAS-participating schools is 54.5 hours. The median of observational hours is 50 hours and the mode is 40 hours.

It is important to note that these numbers comprise schools that require hours to be verified (by a physical therapist) as well as by schools that do not require the hours to be verified. These numbers are for PTCAS-participating schools only.

While these statistical numbers are not provided by the PTCAS, I have entered all data from the PTCAS list into an Excel sheet in order to determine these numbers.The PTCAS list can be found here: http://aptaapps.apta.org/ptcas/observationhours.aspx

Since every school is a bit different, it can be important to look for some general trends and patterns in regards to requirements. This article will provide some statistical and numerical insight towards observation hour requirements for PT schools across the US.

Remember, for many of these schools, these are the required minimums. Many schools state that recommended hours are often much higher.

I have written a separate article that details more information (along with ten key tips) for what you need to know about clinical observation hours, which you can read about here: Volunteer Clinical Hour Requirements: What PT Applicants Need to Know

If you need help learning how to secure some clinical observational hours or aren’t quite sure where to begin, be sure to check out my article How to Find and Secure Clinical Observation Hours for Your PT Application Requirements, where I discuss the best ways to go about ensuring that you are able to gain the required hours that you need to successfully apply to your PT school(s) of choice.

Why are observational hours required by most schools?

Most schools require observational hours for a variety of different reasons. For starters, spending time in physical therapy clinics helps the PT applicant to gain a better understanding of the role and demands of the physical therapist. Observing within a clinic provides the PT applicant with firsthand experience of the day-to-day operations that are carried out within a facility as well as the general role that the physical therapist plays within the healthcare profession.

Observational hours are also helpful in ensuring that the applicant is indeed interested in becoming a physical therapist and that they have a strong understanding of the knowledge, skills and abilities that they will be expected to develop throughout their schooling.

Lastly, any PT-related knowledge and/or experience that an applicant can gain throughout their observational hours will surely be of some form of benefit to that individual when they enter into PT school. This can range from academic knowledge (such as special tests, therapeutic modalities, etc.) to more conceptual knowledge (such as clinical reasoning and patient communication styles).

The more knowledge and experience the PT applicant can acquire during their hours of clinical observation, the better served they will be for a number of their courses throughout their program.

Total number of physical therapy schools that require verified hours

Of the 238 institutions on the list, there are a total of 150 schools that require an applicant to have completed a specified number of observational hours AND have these hours verified by the physical therapist(s) under whom they completed these hours.

This means that 63% of all PT school within the US will require an applicant to have completed and verified a specified number of observational hours.

Physical therapy schools with the least number of required PT observational hours

While dozes of schools require 20-50 hours of physical therapy observational hours, there are five universities that require only 10 hours. These schools are all tied for the lowest number of hours required:

• University of Hartford (Connecticut): 10 (required & verified)
• Florida Gulf Coast University: 10 (required & verified)
• MCPHS University (Massachusetts): 10 (required, but not verified)
• MGH Institute of Health Professions (Massachusetts): 10 (Required but not verified)
• Springfield College (Massachusetts): 10 (Required & verified)

Physical therapy schools with the highest number of required PT observational hours

There are 33 schools that require an applicant to have completed a minimum of 100 hours of physical therapy observation. This equates to 22% of all PT schools that require observational hours to have the student complete at least 100 hours. Note, this percentage is made up of both schools that require and do not require verification of hours.

The following four schools are the only schools that require an applicant to complete more than 100 required hours:

• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (Newark/North Campus): 300 hours (required but not verified)
• California State University, Northridge: 200 (required & verified)
• George Fox University (Oregon): 200 (required but not verified)
• University of Southern California: 150 (required & verified)

Schools that require observational hours but are not verified

There are a total of 50 schools from the list that require a designated amount of clinical observational hours to be completed but do not require any verification.

School that do not require observational hours

There are a total of 38 PTCAS- participating schools that do not require observational hours to be completed by the applicant. Many of these 38 schools however state that completion of clinical observation hours is highly encouraged. These schools also tend to state a preferred number of recommended hours.

There are three schools that do not require NOR consider observational hours, regardless as to whether an applicant has indeed completed any hours. These schools are:

• Governors State University (Illinois)
• University of St. Mary (Kansas)
• Cleveland State University (Ohio)

Schools with unknown observational hour requirements

There are four PTCAS-participating schools on the list with unknown requirements regarding observational hour requirements. These schools are:

• Quinnipiac University (Connecticut)
• Philadelphia College of Osteopathic medicine – Suwanee
• D’Youville College (New York)
• University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (bridge PTA to DPT program)

It stands to reason that the requirements for the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have unique requirements since applicants within this program would already be licensed Physical Therapy Assistants (PTAs).

If an applicant were to need to determine observational requirements for either of these four institutions, they would likely need to contact the school and the admissions department directly in order to gain necessary information.

Concluding remarks

The number of observational hours that are required to be completed by a physical therapy applicant can vary greatly from one school to the next. Some schools do not require nor consider observational hours at all. Many schools highly recommend observational hours but do not require them.

Lastly, schools may require observational hours to be completed, with some schools requiring verification by having a licensed therapist signing off on the hours while other school do not require verification.

Any applicant wishing to apply to a PT school should be familiar with the observational-hour requirements for each institution they are wishing to apply to. They should also be aware that many of these institutions either require or strongly recommend these hours to be completed across as many different settings as possible (such as inpatient settings and outpatient settings).

Related articles

1. Volunteer Clinical Hour Requirements: What PT Applicants Need to Know
2. How to Find Clinical Observation Hours for PT Application Requirements