Why study medical assisting?
The Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) is a healthcare profession focused on helping patients improve mobility, manage pain, and regain physical function. Physical therapist assistants work under the direction of physical therapists to treat patients recovering from injuries, surgeries, or managing chronic conditions like stroke, arthritis, and sports injuries. They implement personalized treatment plans, guide patients through therapeutic exercises, administer targeted physical modalities, and educate individuals and their families on home-care strategies. Studying physical therapy assisting equips individuals with the hands-on knowledge and clinical skills to make a direct, positive impact on patients’ mobility, functional independence, and overall quality of life.
Click here for Minimum Admissions (MAR)
Degrees & Certificates
Physical Therapist Assistant
Associate Degree in Applied Science
Time to Complete:
Two Years
Schedule:
Day Classes
The goal of this program is to prepare graduates with demonstrated competence in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains of physical therapy practice as performed by physical therapist assistants (PTAs).
Career Tracks
- Staff PTA (Outpatient Orthopedics, Acute Care, or Inpatient Rehabilitation)
- Geriatric (Working in skilled nursing facilities, assisted living, or home health)
- Pediatric (Supporting children in schools, outpatient clinics, or early intervention programs)
- Sports Medicine (Assisting with athletic rehabilitation, injury prevention, and conditioning)
- Neurological Rehabilitation (Focusing on patients recovering from strokes, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, or managing conditions like Parkinson’s disease)
- Home Health (Providing one-on-one care and functional training directly in patients’ homes)
Get the education you deserve without spending your days worrying about how to afford it. Our financial aid team can help you chart a path to paying for college, including through debt-free grants and scholarships.
The Forsyth Tech Cares program supports students so they can succeed, including access to financial assistance, health services, and confidential counseling.
Program Accreditation Candidacy
Graduation from a physical therapist assistant education program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, VA 22305-3085; phone; 703-706-3245; accreditationsupport@apta.org is necessary for eligibility to sit for the licensure examination, which is required in all states.
Candidacy is considered to be an accredited status, as such the credits and degree earned from a program with Candidacy status are considered, by CAPTE, to be from an accredited program. Therefore, students in the charter (first) class should be eligible to take the licensure exam even if CAPTE withholds accreditation at the end of the candidacy period. That said, it is up to each state licensing agency, not CAPTE, to determine who is eligible for licensure. Information on licensing requirements should be directed to the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT; www.fsbpt.org (https://www.fsbpt.org/)) or specific state boards (a list of state boards and contact information is available on FSBPT’s website.)
Forsyth Technical Community College is seeking accreditation of a new physical therapist assistant education program from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia 22305-3085; telephone: 703-706-3245; email: accreditation@apta.org; website: capteonline.org. The program is currently operating in and seeking accreditation status. Submission of this application does not assure that the program will be granted Candidate for Accreditation status, nor does achievement of candidacy status assure that the program will be granted Initial Accreditation. On May 1, 2027, the program will submit an Application for Candidacy, which is the formal application required in the pre-accreditation stage. Submission of this document does not assure that the program will be granted Candidate for Accreditation status. Achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status is required prior to implementation of the professional phase of the program; therefore, no students may be enrolled in professional courses until Candidate for Accreditation status has been achieved. Further, though achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status signifies satisfactory progress toward accreditation, it does not assure that the program will be granted accreditation.
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Forsyth Tech is located at:
4905 Lansing Dr,
Winston-Salem, NC 27105