Chemistry
How often do you use chemistry in PT school?
All the time! It’s not in as direct a way as chemistry class. We’re not balancing reactions or calculating molality or drawing line structures but the underlying concepts are used all the time! This might sound weird because it can be hard to relate microbiology concepts to the work physical therapists do with larger muscles and bones. I’m going to try to make it make sense anyway.
Let’s look at stroke rehabilitation. When someone has a stroke, it’s not uncommon for half of their body to become difficult to use due to feeling weak and uncoordinated. Someone’s having trouble moving! This is a pretty clear place for PTs to step in. Now how does a physical therapist make a decision about what to do next? By understanding the chemical changes that are happening in the nervous system and the chemical changes that occur with different movements in different parts of the body, a PT can encourage neuron recovery through movement. A PT also understands (on a micro level) the consequences of movement that is too little, too much, too slow, too fast, too powerful, or not powerful enough. It gets complicated and that is why your PT is there to give you guidance!
"chemistry bottles with liquid inside" by zhouxuan12345678 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
What chemistry did you take?
I only took 2 levels of basic chemistry and 1 quantitative chemistry in undergrad. I’ve studied organic on my own a little bit and now I’m wishing I’d taken official classes on that and biochemistry. The little that I do know has been incredibly helpful for understanding why certain tiny things happen in our body. I’m pretty sure it’s still actually magic; It’s just magic that I understand a little bit of. I think some extra chemistry in my repertoire would help me even more with understanding all the backstage happenings in the body. The good thing is that there’s always more to learn and no one can stop you from learning!
I hope this was helpful for understanding a little bit of how and why use chemistry as PT students. If you have any extra questions, ask away in the comments below! And to the prospective future PT students out there: I hope this helps you understand why you’re taking those chem classes!
