We have plenty of work so we are always in the market for good instructors.
How many different kinds of instructors do you have on staff?
We have two kinds of trainers; ATU Instructors, who can teach any class, and Guest Lecturers, who are clinicians in a specialized field or who possess specialized knowledge. These professionals are paid to teach only their own content and their own courses.
What background and education do I need to teach for ATU?
ATU Instructors must have either a Masters or Doctorate in Physical or Occupational Therapy. Guest Lecturers must be licensed clinical professionals and recognized leaders in their field.
Do you have a screening process for your instructor-candidates?
To insure our students are taught by the best, we employ a rigorous screening process to determine if our instructor candidates possess the skills, expertise, knowledge and spark necessary. First, they must pass an interview by our Program Director. Second, if invited, they must enroll in our 8-hour I Want To Teach! class. This class meets the Thursday before selected ATU weekends. They would then stay two more days to assist teaching both the Aquatic Therapy Boot Camp and the accompanying main campus class. Once they return home, our clinical directors will sit down, evaluate their performance and, if they pass all these trials, extended them an offer to teach these classes for us on a paid-basis. If they wanted to teach other classes, they would have to enroll and team-teach these also before being eligible.
What are the costs to get instructor training?
The cost of our 3-day instructor training is $995. This includes I Want to Teach!, Aquatic Therapy Boot Camp and the main campus course that was offered that weekend.
However, this fee is no guarantee that every instructor candidate will be invited to become a paid ATU instructor. Many accomplished and able therapists just don't have the patience, people-skills or desire to teach for us. In these cases, the student is still able to use the valuable skills learned and instruct back home.
Is this something I can make money at?
ATU pays an instructor honorarium of $100 for each class hour taught. Since all content created for ATU remains the property of ATU, we also pay royalties for any original content that is created for our courses.
What is the process required to be an ATU instructor?
Questions & Answers
Question:
What is Aquatic Therapy University? How does it fit in with my education?
Answer:
Aquatic Therapy University (ATU) provides post-graduate studies in aquatic therapy. Aquatic therapy is no longer an "entry-level" skill. Therapists and therapist's assistants who graduate with an associate's, bachelor's and even doctoral degree do not have the education or training necessary to perform aquatic therapy in the field.
Typically, Aquatic Therapy University comes into the picture after graduation (although we do allow students to audit our classes). You have already become licensed, certified or registered to practice in the rehabilitation industry, but you do not have the advanced skills necessary to safely and effectively work in the water. You require additional training.
At that point, ATU can provide you two options. For the therapist who occasionally works in water, ATU can provide you with weekend training in almost any subspecialty you desire (pediatrics, total hip & knee, sports performance enhancement, etc). Aquatic Therapy University classes always meet state and national standards for continuing education (CE) units and often fulfill your entire yearly requirement in a single class.
For the more serious "aquatic therapist", ATU provides a tiered, 74-hour curriculum of aquatic therapy studies taught by industry experts, similar to what you would obtain in a degree setting. As an ATU student, you will attend a 700, 800 and 900 series of studies and then be credentialed in one of 7 different Certificate Tracks (Musculoskeletal, Neurological, Geriatric, Pediatric, Sports, Business and General Studies).
I am not a licensed therapist or assistant. Can I still attend ATU?
Answer:
Water-based therapy is a multi-disciplinary modality. While Aquatic Therapy University (ATU) classes are designed primarily for the licensed PT/PTA, OT/OTA and SLP, we often have equal numbers of LMTs, CTRSs, ATCs, APEs, CSCSs, exercise physiologists and other professionals attend. Our classes are open door with the understanding that all attendees must follow the parameters and limitations of all relevant state practice acts.
I have had difficulty in cold pools when attending others seminars. What is the temperature of the pool at this class?
Answer:
Nobody can learn in a cold pool. That is why all ATU campus-classes are held in warm-water pools that are heated to 90-94 degrees. There will be no need to bring your wetsuit to this class!
No, you don't have to be an Individual Member or Facility Member to attend. However, many people join as Certificate Members in order to get their yearly aquatic therapy class for free. It's a way to spread out the cost of continuing education -- while getting the perks of membership.
What is the Aquatic Therapy Boot Camp and why is it offered as a separate class?
Answer:
Since other continuing education companies hope to draw huge numbers of registrants (from all levels of expertise), their instructors feel they always have to start with the basics. At ATU, we want to make it possible for you to jump into an Intermediate or Advanced class without hearkening back to Archimedes and his bathtub. That's why we have pulled out all the "basics" and made them into a separate training option.
The Aquatic Therapy Boot Camp is offered as a live instructional at all our Main Campus (Minneapolis) classes and as a DVD learning module. This 4 hour "basic training" covers all the fundamentals of aquatic therapy (such as principles of fluid mechanics, precautions and contraindications, and handling techinques) in a very hands-on functional manner. The class is optional and available at a low cost to anyone attending ATU.
Important: If you are seeking ATU Credentialing, the Aquatic Therapy Boot Camp is required attendance for anyone with less than 500 hours of clinical aquatic therapy experience.
I've never been to a CE class that went 8AM - 9PM. How do people respond?
Answer:
Ever attended an out-of-town seminar that stretched 15 contact hours over 3 or 4 days? That meant 4 nights in a hotel, more days away from family, and the need to find coverage for your patients at work.
Well ATU believes you can handle up to 20 hours crammed into 2 days. At our main campus in Minneapolis, we start out your day with our Aquatic Therapy Boot Camp at 8AM and wrap up the main class at 9PM. Only to start the next day at 8AM again.
Hey, we feed you lots. Give you a gorgeous learning setting. Make you laugh 'til you pee (hopefully, during designated breaks). The response has been amazing. Your time is valuable. We fill you to the brim with food and knowledge and send you happily on your way with 20 hours of CE under your belt.
Some CE providers issue deck passes to their registrants. Is this the case with ATU?
Answer:
Ugh. No way. How can you learn from the deck? We cap our classes to fit our pool size and tie it to the number of instructors; most are capped between 20-25 attendees. We believe aquatic therapy is learned kinesthetically and that means butts-in-the-pool.
What level of education and training do ATU instructors have?
Answer:
All of our clinical-track instructors are licensed therapists, physicians, PhDs, or their equivalent. While we absolutely believe that individuals with other backgrounds have tremendous knowledge to impart, we want our instructors' expertise to match or exceed our students'. Our Business Track courses are taught by a variety of people across the educational spectrum with an emphasis on real-world expertise.
Are there any volunteer opportunities to offset the cost of my tuition?
Answer:
Not really. Our courses are intentionally kept very small. We would feel silly having you volunteer to direct traffic for 25 people. That said, if you have amazing social networking skills or are an Internet marketing genius, we may be interested in "hiring" you in exchange for Continuing Ed dollars.
Yes. Stay at our preferred hotel at our main campus in Minneapolis and breakfast is always included. And we feed you pretty much non-stop during the conference itself. It's our mission to make the experience as close to free as possible once you arrive.
We make a good-faith effort to provide this same free breakfast service at our off-campus polyclinic locations. If breakfast is not included, you will know that up-front.
Nope; not at our main campus in Minneapolis. Our preferred hotel (Staybridge Suites) will shuttle you and your BFFs to/from the airport and to/from the conference location. Again, it's our mission to reduce the cha-ching you drop when traveling.
We make an effort to provide this same shuttle service at our off-campus polyclinic locations, but sometimes, it's just not possible. Many polyclinics are held in small towns across the country where an airport isn't even in the picture. We often open these polyclinic classes up to outside registrations so that local therapists can find good training in their backyard, but these classes are not necessarily "conveniently located" for everyone.
Certainly. As an added bonus, all the rooms at our main campus hotel (Staybridge Suites) are suites. Room with 1 or 2 of your friends and you will be shocked at how cheaply you can stay.
