I’m not sure what I want to do when I get out of college. I think I’m a patient and helpful person, and for that reason I’ve been thinking of going into either Speech Language Pathology or Physical Therapy. Both of these fields sound intriguing, especially the fact that I’d be helping stroke or cancer patients to improve their speech or physical functioning, and I think I’d be good at either of them. First, let me give you some background about me and my experience and education:
I’m a college student (third year) attending a city university in NYC and majoring in Biology. I have decent extracurriculars (I work as a peer tutor and, if I get admitted to the program, will also be working as a peer advisor.) I also have a decent GPA (3.5) and hope to pull a 3.6 or higher this semester. I’ve taken plenty of biology courses and plan to take a few anatomy courses before I graduate. I took a course of Org Chem pass/fail (and passed, thankfully ) too, although I understand for many professional programs I’d have to go back and take a year of it for a grade.
So, here are my questions! They’re for any people with any experience working as a Speech Language Pathologist or a Physical Therapist, or for those who were treated by them, or anyone who has worked with them in any capacity, etc. Feel free to answer or ignore any of them.
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Do you enjoy the work? Do you feel as if you’ve helped patients in your care significantly?
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What kind of people do you work with – elderly, people of all ages? What kind of ailments do they suffer from?
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What do you like most about the job? What do you like least?
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Is the post-college program hard to get admitted to? Do you think I have a chance to be admitted to a program based on my above description?
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Are there jobs available in the above fields? In particular, are there job openings in NYC? I love the city and really don’t want to move.
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Do you think you earn enough to pay back your college loans and pay for insurance and other professional costs, and still not worry about money too much? Do you work for a hospital, your own business, a private clinic, etc?
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How many hours do you work a week? Are you chronically sleep-deprived? Do you get much vacation? (The reason I’m asking is because my dad’s a nurse, and they practically keep him tethered to the hospital building. They never even let him use his vacation days. He’s got plenty of “theoretical” vacation days accrued, but it seems like they never let him spend 'em.)
And before I get any responses at all, let me just say I’ve found the SDMB very helpful for topics like this and I’m grateful for any help that’s given. Thanks!