PTA Service Learning Curriculum

Lone Star College-Montgomery PTA Program supports the APTA core values of altruism, compassion/caring, and social responsibility into professional practice and Lone Star College-Montgomery’s value for supporting a seamless education journey while nurturing the intellectual and cultural life of the community.

Therefore, the PTA program includes a service learning component in all 5 semesters of the program. The service learning experience focus is on contributions individuals make within their professional role to the community. As the students evolve through didactic, laboratory and clinical program courses, service learning allows the student to internalize their role as a health care professional. Students will evolve from seeing the world through a student’s lense to seeing the world through a health care provider’s lense and how they contribute personally to the cultural life of a community. 

1. The student will demonstrate social responsibility, citizenship, and advocacy, by participating in community and human services organizations and activities.
2. The student will develop a perception and understanding of health prevention, wellness and illness and the way our community and its’ individuals adapt to these terms.
3. The student will describe their personal interests and goals within the health care community.
4. The student will act as an advocate for the profession of physical therapy.

Each semester during the PTA program, the student will select a community/human services organization or activity in which to volunteer a minimum of 4-6 hours.  The target population of t he service learning project may include but is not limited to the disadvantaged, under served, disabled or cross cultural populations. 

A list of community organizations which have participated in the PTA program’s service learning component will be presented during PTHA 1305 and again in PTHA 2250.  The student is not limited to these organizations and may choose to seek out additional and new community partners.  The student may choose to volunteer each semester for the same community organization or may choose to volunteer with 5 different organizations.

Once the student has chosen a community organization in which to volunteer, it is the student’s responsibility to:

1. Contact the organization and arrange for any required orientation.
2. Complete the PTA Service Learning Proposal Form.
3. Arrange for the volunteer hours and be on time!
4. Write a note of appreciation to our community partners.
5. Provide a report of the activity by the end of the semester in which the activity occurred.  Remember, you must have 5 reports turned in prior to graduation from the program.

The service learning project report may be presented in 3 different options by the end of the semester in which the activity was performed.

Option 1:  A 1-3 page written report.

Option 2:  A reflective journal over the period of the project.

Option 3:  An oral and visual presentation.  

The report should include the following:

• Description of the service project.
• Description and mission of the community/human service organization.
• The target population.
• How the target population uses physical therapy services in the activity.
• How you personally broadened your understanding of physical therapy.
• Any additional personal take-aways from the project.

1. APTA. The Guide to Physical Therapy Practice. 1999
2. APTA. http://www.apta.org/, Service Learning: The World as the Classroom, 9/03/07.
3. Reynolds, PT, EdD, GCS, Pamela, Syllabus for PTH 738:  Service Experience Project
4. Campus Compact, http://www.campuscompact.org/, 9/03/07.