Physical Therapy is a rewarding profession, providing care that restores mobility and function in patients suffering from physical injuries or disease. A 4-year bachelor degree in a related field is recommended if you wish to go on to the masters level. BHSU requires the following courses as part of the Pre-Physical Therapy program. Advisor: Dr. Charles Lamb
Courses available as part of your bachelor’s degree that will prepare you for your career goals.
Holly Freudenberg: 2002 Graduate with a Biology Major. Following her undergraduate work here at BHSU, Holly attended University of North Dakota. She then worked as a Physical Therapist at Katterbach Health Clinic in Katterbach, Germany. She now works for Benefis Health care in Great Falls, MT.
Recently, Holly discussed her career and experience at BHSU. Below are here comments.
I have worked at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Dothan, AL where I focused in neurological and orthopedic inpatient rehab. Following that, I worked at Katterbach (Germany) Army Health Clinic, where I worked with patients (mainly soldiers but a few family members) on an outpatient orthopedic basis. I'm currently employed at Benefis Healthcare in Great Falls, MT as an acute care and inpatient rehab PT. I'm also beginning work on a NAIOMT manual therapy certification. BHSU prepared me for graduate school and my career as a physical therapist in a number of different ways. Professors for graduate school pre-requisites taught me the importance of organization and effective studying. I developed relationships with them that led to great recommendations for graduate school, and that continue to this day. The field of physical therapy is shifting to a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree to support its evidence-based practice (meaning that PTs' methods of practice are constantly changing based on current research studies). With that shift, doctoral programs are focusing more on research to support what we do. I was able to apply the research skills that I developed on various projects at BH to fulfill the scholarly project requirement for my DPT degree. Advice I would give to anyone considering a career in PT would be to remember that you're not going to find all the answers in a book, and you're not going to learn everything in school. I'd also tell them to keep an open mind about what area of PT you want to focus on. Once you get out into the real world, you often become aware of opportunities you didn't even know were out there.
I have worked at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Dothan, AL where I focused in neurological and orthopedic inpatient rehab. Following that, I worked at Katterbach (Germany) Army Health Clinic, where I worked with patients (mainly soldiers but a few family members) on an outpatient orthopedic basis. I'm currently employed at Benefis Healthcare in Great Falls, MT as an acute care and inpatient rehab PT. I'm also beginning work on a NAIOMT manual therapy certification.
BHSU prepared me for graduate school and my career as a physical therapist in a number of different ways. Professors for graduate school pre-requisites taught me the importance of organization and effective studying. I developed relationships with them that led to great recommendations for graduate school, and that continue to this day. The field of physical therapy is shifting to a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree to support its evidence-based practice (meaning that PTs' methods of practice are constantly changing based on current research studies). With that shift, doctoral programs are focusing more on research to support what we do. I was able to apply the research skills that I developed on various projects at BH to fulfill the scholarly project requirement for my DPT degree.
Advice I would give to anyone considering a career in PT would be to remember that you're not going to find all the answers in a book, and you're not going to learn everything in school. I'd also tell them to keep an open mind about what area of PT you want to focus on. Once you get out into the real world, you often become aware of opportunities you didn't even know were out there.
Are you interested in BHSU's Pre-Physical Therapy degree program? Contact us for more information.
Timothy Cass ('92) Eric Oestmann ('92) Deborah Burckhard (‘95, USD) Kim Crosswait ('95, USD) Jody (Wherley) Verhey ('98, USD) Katie Loy ('98, Hardin-Simmons) Moon (Jarvis) Hemeyer ('99, USD) Holly Boehnke ('02, UND) Alenda Overland ('02, St. Ambrose) Lindsay (Whitley) Belcher ('03, Univ. Puget Sound) Amanda Vaughn (’04, Mayo Clinic) Heather Combs (’05, USD) Surrena Davidson (’05, Montana) Ryan Schrock (’05, UND) JR Grabinger (’06, USD) Jessica Mort (’06, Texas Tech.) Cole Seppie (’07, Utah) Craig Triplett (’08, Mayo Clinic) Jaime Adams (’09, UND) Mike Evenson (’09, USD) Samantha Mushitz (’09, USD) Liz Woodruff (’09, USD) Matt Fuhr (’10, UND) Dan Jensen (’10, Univ. Minn.) Kate Maher (’10, Med. Univ. SC) Shauna O’Conner (’10, USD) April Schreurs (’11, USD) Sarah Stagner (’12, USD)
CONTACT INFORMATION: Black Hills State University School of Natural Sciences 1200 University St. Unit 9095 Spearfish, SD 57799-9095 605.642.6026 Charles.Lamb@bhsu.edu
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