To meet health industry needs for thousands of physical therapists, occupational therapists and other trained health professionals, colleges and universities have revamped their course offerings. Even so, they turn down more students than they accept.
“Schools are being swamped with applicants,” says Dr. Judy Barr, President of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions (ASAHP). Howard University, the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) to establish a College of Allied Health, fits in that category.
“We had sixty-five qualified students applying for thirty-two spaces in physical therapy,” says Dr. Gene Gary-Williams, dean of Howard’s College of Allied Health Sciences. “We had to turn them down. If we had more resources and facilities, we could be twice as large as we are now.”
At Florida A&M University (FAMU), 500 applicants vied for sixty slots in last year’s physical therapy program. Because of increased demand, FAMU had just increased its physical therapy program student population from last year’s class of forty-five. According to Dr. Jacqueline B. Beck, dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences at FAMU, “When we recruit, everyone wants to be a physical therapist.”
The National Commission on Allied Health claims that allied health professionals are the largest component of the health care workforce.
More than 250 jobs are listed under allied health–ranging from physician assistants and dietitians to physical, respiratory and occupational therapists–providing more care to consumers than doctors and nurses. And the high demand for these programs is causing many community colleges to add on physical therapy (PT), physician assistant (PA) and occupational therapy (OT) programs.
Barr says, “Programs for physician assistants are doubling in numbers, in terms of new programs. Institutions see the demand for them. There was also significant growth in programs for occupational therapy.”
