Overview
The first Physical Therapist Assistant program in the state of West Virginia and accredited since 1997, Pierpont’s PTA program is located at the Gaston Caperton Center campus in Clarksburg.
The program is designed to educate and prepare students to work under the supervision of a physical therapist to provide therapeutic treatments to patients who have lost functional ability because of illness or injury.
Andrea Wamsley-Barr
Program Director/ Assistant Professor
- 304-367-4043
- awamsleybarr@pierpont.edu
- Caperton Center, Room 310B
This program prepares students to sit for a national licensing exam and graduates must pass this exam in order to work as a Physical Therapist Assistant.
This program open enrollment, competitive
This program will prepare students to implement a plan of care established by the physical therapist using appropriate technology, perform data collection through tests, measurements and observations and interpret results in compliance with the PTA role and so much more.
Career Opportunities
Career opportunities for licensed PTAs can be found in hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, nursing care facilities, offices of physical therapists in private practice, and in home health care.
According to the US Department of Labor, employment of PTAs is expected to grow much faster than average for the next several years (2021-2031), and the median annual salary for WV is over $46,400.
Many PTA graduates continue their education in a baccalaureate field such as Allied Health Administration or Exercise Science.
$46,400*
Median Salary Two Years After Graduation
*WV Workforce Outcomes
Accreditation
The Physical Therapist Assistant program at Pierpont Community and Technical College is accredited by 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: http://www.capteonline.org. If needing to contact the program/institution directly, please call the Program Director at 304-367-4043 or email awamsleybarr@pierpont.edu.
| Graduation Year | Group | Number of Candidates | Number of Passing Candidates | Pass Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | First Time | 10 | 10 | 100% |
| 2024 | Ultimate | 10 | 10 | 100% |
| 2023 | First Time | 8 | 6 | 75% |
| 2023 | Ultimate | 8 | 7 | 87.5% |
| 2022 | First Time | 13 | 9 | 69.2% |
| 2022 | Ultimate | 13 | 13 | 100% |
| Class Year | Graduation Rate (%) | 2020 | 100% |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 93% | 2022 | 69% |
| 2023 | 54% |
| 2024 | 71.4% |
| Year | Aggregate (%) | CAPTE Benchmark (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 (Ultimate Board Pass Rate) | 94.4% | 85% |
| 2023-24 (Graduation Rate) | 62% | 60% |
Employment Rate: Of the students who have graduated, passed their boards, and sought employment in the past 5 years, 100% were employed as a physical therapist assistant within 6 months of graduation.
Student Handbook
2023-24 Pierpont PTA Student Financial Fact Sheet
Program Missions and Goals
Course Catalog
To see a model schedule for this program, please see our academic catalog.
Admission
Physical Therapist Assistant is an open enrollment, competitive program.
1. Apply to Pierpont Community and Technical College for the term you want to begin the program and meet the general admission requirements or be a current student
2. First-time students should select “Health Sciences, A.A.S.” as their educational goal on their application.
3. Qualified students are accepted until capacity is met.
4. Students need to register for PHTA 1109 (unless student has equivalent college credit) and PHTA 1100 in the Fall semester to be eligible to continue in the program.
To complete the program, students are required to:
– Students must pass a criminal background clearance check, meet health and immunization requirements, and drug testing.
– Students must be able to meet the essential functions of the program and classes, with or without accommodations.
– Students will need to provide their own transportation to assigned clinical sites.
Students must complete each course in the PTA program model schedule with a grade of “C” or higher and maintain an overall 2.0 GPA to remain in the program. Exam averages must be maintained at least a 75% in PTA courses. Any classes accepted as substitutes for curricular classes also require a grade of “C” or higher. Failure to meet any of these requirements will result in dismissal from the program. Students who have been dismissed due to academic failure or cohort capacity can return the next academic year to reattempt progression in the PTA Program.
Students begin the program in the fall semester and are required to complete the following open enrollment courses:
BIOY 1170
BIOY 1171
ENGL 1104
HLCA 1100
PHTA 1100
PHTA 1109
PSYG 1101
Students at this point in the program are designated as Health Science AAS majors. The fall semester courses contain prerequisite content in biological sciences, written language, physical sciences, social sciences, and medical terminology that provide the foundation for course work required in the Physical Therapist Assistant program.
Students must complete each of these courses with a “C” or better. The following spring semester is competitive due to PTA program capacity. If the program reaches capacity (currently 20 students), the top 20 students, based on grade point average of the 7 courses listed above, are eligible to continue in the program. The second semester (spring) comprises the PTA cohort entering PTA major restricted courses. If the program does not meet capacity after admitting all students who meet the above criteria, additional students who have successfully completed PHTA 1100 and 1109 may be admitted to the spring semester. Those students who have the highest GPA and the most number of successfully completed credit hours from the first semester model schedule may be taken until capacity of the cohort is met.
NOTE: Students should also complete MTH 1207 in the first semester to follow PTA Model schedule.
Any students not selected will have the option of continuing into one of a variety of programs, including, but not limited to, the “Health Sciences – Associate of Applied Science” program.