A Beginner's Guide to Observation Hours

Observation hours are one of the most important parts of your PT school application, and one of the most confusing. How many do you need? Where do you find sites? What actually counts? This guide covers all of it with program-specific data and practical advice.

How Many Hours Do You Need?

The short answer: it depends on the program. The PTCAS observation requirements page lists requirements for every participating program. Across 238 PTCAS-participating schools, the data breaks down like this:

• Mean requirement: 54.5 hours
• Median: 50 hours
• Most common minimum: 40 hours
• 63% of US PT schools require completed and verified observation hours
• 38 programs do not require observation hours at all (though most still recommend them)

Requirements range from as low as 10 hours (University of Hartford, Florida Gulf Coast, MCPHS, MGH Institute) to 200 hours (Cal State Northridge). About 22% of programs (33 schools) require a minimum of 100 hours.

Even at programs with no formal requirement, accepted students typically have well over 100 hours. Baylor, for example, strongly recommends 100 hours across two or more settings but does not technically require them. The competitive reality is that 100+ hours across diverse settings is the baseline to be a strong applicant at most programs.

What Counts as Observation Hours

According to PTCAS and ACAPT guidelines, observation hours are any time spent directly with a licensed physical therapist while they are working with patients.

What counts:

• Shadowing a licensed PT during patient care
• Volunteering at a PT clinic or hospital rehab department where you are directly with a PT
• Working as a PT aide or tech (paid position)

What does not count:

• Time with occupational therapists, athletic trainers, chiropractors, physicians, or nurses
• General hospital volunteering where you are not directly with a PT
• Phone or video interviews with a PT
• Special Olympics or similar events (unless you are directly with a licensed PT)

Paid vs. Volunteer

Most programs accept both paid and unpaid hours. The PTCAS application categorizes experiences as paid, volunteer, or both. Working as a PT aide or tech is considered by many advisors to be the most valuable type of experience because it involves deeper patient interaction and builds stronger relationships with supervising PTs, which leads to better recommendation letters and richer essay content.

One exception: Wichita State requires a minimum of 20 unpaid hours specifically. A small number of other programs have similar restrictions, so check the PTCAS directory for each of your target programs.

Why Diversity of Settings Matters

This is the single most important piece of strategic advice about observation hours: breadth matters more than depth. An applicant with 50 hours across five settings is more competitive than one with 500 hours in a single outpatient ortho clinic. Some programs use the number of settings observed as a ranking factor, and applicants with only one setting type may be eliminated from consideration.

UNC requires a minimum of 3 different settings with at least 16 hours in each. George Fox states that the number of settings matters more than the total number of hours in any particular setting.

PTCAS Setting Categories

PTCAS classifies settings into specific categories. Important: multiple outpatient ortho clinics count as the same setting type. True diversity means different types of practice:

Inpatient settings:

• Acute care hospital
• Inpatient rehabilitation
• Skilled nursing facility / extended care
• Other inpatient facility

Outpatient settings:

• PT clinic or hospital outpatient department
• Home health
• Other outpatient facility

Patient populations to seek out: Musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, cardiopulmonary, geriatrics, pediatrics, sports, wound management, and women's health/pelvic floor.

Aim for at least three to four different setting types. The ideal mix includes both inpatient and outpatient experience, with exposure to varied patient populations.

How to Find Observation Sites

Finding sites can feel intimidating, but there are several approaches that work:

1. Search for local PT clinics and call or email directly. Explain that you are a pre-PT student seeking observation experience. Be professional and flexible with scheduling.
2. Start with smaller or private practice clinics. They often have fewer bureaucratic hurdles than large hospital systems and can get you started faster.
3. Contact hospital rehab departments directly. Call the physical therapy department, not the general volunteer office. The volunteer coordinator handles general hospital volunteers, not pre-PT observers.
4. Use your personal network. If you have received PT yourself, ask your therapist. Ask friends and family if they know any PTs.
5. Visit clinics in person. Showing up during morning hours before patients arrive demonstrates initiative. Very few students do this.
6. Try less popular settings. School-based PT and home health agencies are often overlooked by pre-PT students, which means they are easier to get into and provide valuable diversity.
7. Check university PT programs. Some have relationships with local clinics or can point you toward observation-friendly sites.

Start pursuing inpatient settings early. Hospital-based observation programs often have waiting lists, sometimes months long. Getting on the list early ensures you have inpatient hours before application season.

What to Pay Attention To

Do not treat observation as passive time. Active engagement leads to better recommendation letters, stronger essay content, and a clearer understanding of the profession.

Watch for:

• How the PT evaluates patients and builds treatment plans
• Different treatment techniques (manual therapy, therapeutic exercise, modalities, gait training)
• How treatment varies across diagnoses and patient populations
• Communication and rapport between the PT and patients
• How the PT collaborates with other healthcare providers

Questions to ask (between patients, not during treatment):

• Why did you choose that intervention for this patient?
• What do you enjoy most about this setting?
• How does current research influence your treatment approach?
• What do you wish you had known before starting your DPT program?

The ACAPT applicant guide recommends asking the PT their preference for when questions are welcome. Some prefer questions between patients; others are comfortable during treatment. Follow their lead, and never discuss patient information with anyone other than the supervising therapist.

Keep a journal or tracking log after every session with notes on what you observed, what you learned, and any moments that stood out. You will draw on these notes when writing your personal statement and preparing for interviews.

Documentation and Verification in PTCAS

For each observation experience, PTCAS requires the following information:

• Facility name and location
• Date range of your observation
• Setting type (from PTCAS categories)
• Total hours completed (and any planned/in-progress)
• Patient diagnoses and populations observed
• Whether hours were paid, volunteer, or both
• Supervising PT's name and email

150 of 238 PTCAS-participating programs require both completed hours and verification by a licensed PT. Three verification methods are available:

1. Email verification: PTCAS emails your supervising PT a link to verify your hours through Liaison Letters. Warn your PT to check their spam folder.
2. Upload a signed form: Scan or photograph a paper verification form signed by the PT (PDF, Word, or text format, 5MB max).
3. No verification: Only if none of your target programs require it. Not recommended.

Critical: Once you submit your PTCAS application, you cannot edit or remove observation hour entries. You can only add new ones. Make sure your information is accurate before submitting.

Supervising PT Requirements

Hours must be completed under a licensed physical therapist. Most programs require the verifying supervisor to be a licensed PT, not a PTA. However, UW-Madison accepts verification from a licensed PT or PTA. If you spend time with a PTA, you can list that experience elsewhere on your application, but do not rely on PTA-supervised hours as your primary observation experience unless your target programs explicitly allow it.

Hours supervised by occupational therapists, athletic trainers, chiropractors, or physicians do not count toward PT observation requirements regardless of the setting.

When to Start

The consensus among advisors is to begin accumulating hours during your sophomore year or the summer after. Even one to two hours per week adds up significantly over a year.

Why starting early matters:

• Inpatient settings have waiting lists, sometimes months long
• Building a relationship with a supervising PT over time produces stronger recommendation letters
• You will have richer material for your personal statement and interviews
• You will have time to explore multiple settings rather than cramming hours into one clinic before the deadline

Start a tracking log from day one. Record the date, hours, facility, setting type, supervising PT contact information, and notes on what you observed. Reconstructing this information at application time is stressful and error-prone.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. All hours in one setting. Diversity across settings is more valuable than raw volume. Spread your hours across inpatient and outpatient, and across multiple patient populations.
2. Passive observation. Standing silently in the corner without engaging produces weak recommendation letters and surface-level essay content. Ask questions, show genuine interest, and be an active presence.
3. Poor documentation. Not tracking dates, hours, and supervising PT contact information as you go. You will need this data for PTCAS and it is difficult to reconstruct later.
4. Waiting too long to start. Especially for hospital-based settings with waiting lists. Starting junior year can leave you scrambling.
5. Counting time that does not qualify. General hospital volunteering, time with non-PT professionals, or events without a licensed PT present do not count.
6. Selecting "no verification" in PTCAS when your target programs actually require it.
7. Not meeting program-specific minimums. Each program has its own requirement. Failing to meet it can mean automatic rejection.

Virtual Observation Hours

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some programs temporarily accepted virtual observation hours. Most of these accommodations have expired. Services like Pre-PT Grind still offer virtual case study experiences, but these should supplement in-person hours, not replace them. If you are considering virtual hours, contact your target programs directly to ask whether they accept them.

Build Your Observation Plan

1. Look up your target programs' requirements using the PTCAS observation hours comparison.
2. Identify the highest minimum across your program list. That is your floor.
3. Plan for at least 3 to 4 different setting types, including at least one inpatient setting.
4. Start pursuing hospital-based observation early due to waiting lists.
5. Keep a running log of dates, hours, facilities, and supervising PT contact information.
6. Ask each supervising PT if they are willing to verify your hours through PTCAS before you finish your time with them.

Observation hours are your first real window into the profession. Approach them with curiosity, professionalism, and a plan, and they will strengthen every other part of your application.

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For help finding placements, see our guide to finding observation sites. To see how observation hours fit into the broader application, check our PTCAS guide, application tips, and building a competitive profile.