Prerequisites and CAS

One of the desires of the profession of physical therapy is to recruit the best applicants for our educational programs. There are currently two issues under investigation to hopefully reduce the barriers and burden associated with the application process. The first is a preferred set of prerequisites among PT programs and the second is a Centralized Application Service (CAS).

Over a year ago, the Education Section proposed a set of common prerequisites following an investigation identifying prerequisites common to most programs. In March 2006 the APTA Board of Directors appointed a Task Force on Physical Therapist Preferred Prerequisites and Centralized Application Service (TFPTPPCAS) with the charge to help develop and implement a plan to recruit qualified, diverse applicants to PT and PTA programs (Goal 9 of the Education Strategic Plan). The APTA Board of Directors recognized that one of the biggest challenges to standardizing prerequisites is the great diversity in PT academic curriculum.

The Task Force hopes that a CAS can help decrease some of the possible confusion during the application process by simplifying the process. Applicants would only have to fill out a singular common application with possible supplements for specific programs. Programs would potentially benefit because the CAS would take care of reference and transcript verification.

PT would not be the first profession to use a CAS. 100% of medical, law, and Texas state schools use this kind of service as well as 95% of osteopathic and dentistry schools. There are still some uncertainties about the use of a CAS in physical therapy, especially regarding cost. It is reported that this is a cost effective system for applicants in the other professions where it is used.

The Task Force is in the process of collecting information from students and programs to be used to answer some of the remaining questions prior to making a decision about whether or not to create a CAS. Do your part to help the Task Force complete their mission. The TF is sending an email request to each PT program director asking them to forward the request to their first year students. If you are a first year student, you should receive this email request. Or, you can go to http://websurveyor.net/wsb.dll/17565/CentralAppStudent.htm to complete the short survey.