Physical Therapy Careers: Viable Options
Think physical therapy careers, and you may be onto something very rewarding. It's an in-demand profession, the pay is higher than most and, physical therapy careers opportunities are abundant. You can first gain experience as a physical therapy aide, work your way to becoming an assistant, complete a four-year bachelor degree as physical therapist and even earn a masters or doctorate degree with specialization.
Positive job outlook
As medical treatments advance, the need for more skilled and professional workers in the medical industry will increase, even as other industries are affected by an economic slowdown. Unlike becoming a doctor that requires several years of education before you can actually practice and be on your way to earn, physical therapy careers allow you to be part of the workforce in less the time.
It is easier to establish a career in physical therapy because of the number of places where you can find work:
- Outpatient clinics or offices
- Hospitals
- Inpatient rehabilitation facilities
- Skilled nursing, extended care, or subacute facilities
- Homes
- Education or research centers
- Schools
- Hospices
- Industrial, workplace, or other occupational environments
- Fitness centers and sports training facilities
Physical therapy jobs are available for those with no experience and educational background to the ones who really aimed to pursue a career helping patients deal with arthritis, fractures, disabilities, or even cerebral palsy.
Physical therapy positions
Most employers will train you on the job to become a physical therapist aide. You need not actually have gone to a formal school to perform the job of one especially since you work under the supervision of a PT assistant and the physical therapist. Your duties are not technical or even medical in nature. You are primarily expected to keep the treatment area clean and organized for sessions. At the same time, you will assist and prepare patients before their treatment so people skills are invaluable, particularly because your clients are usually in pain or discomfort and have difficulty with mobility. On the average, physical therapy aides are paid $11.40 an hour.
A physical therapy assistant is expected to have completed an associate degree program and is usually a licensed, certified of registered professional. Physical therapy assistant programs are offered in community colleges or technical schools, as well as in universities. While also under the direction supervision of a physical therapist, an assistant is also hands-on during actual treatment sessions of patients. It is usually the physical therapist assistant's responsibility to report on the progress of each case, so training - both theoretical and clinical - are necessary. In 2008, PTAs averaged $46,140 annually.
Investment and rewards
If you've decided you want to seriously pursue a physical therapy career, it is definitely rewarding not only financially but because you can actually see the results of your efforts. When the patient is able to regain mobility or can cope with their conditions, then the hours of physical activities are worth it. As an experienced physical therapist, you can make as much as $104,000 annually.
To become a certified physical therapist, you need a graduate degree (masters or doctorate), which are not offered in all schools with physical therapy programs. There is no four-year bachelor degree for physical therapy. Instead, the minimum requirement is a bachelor degree of any discipline, depending on the college or university offering the graduate degree.
While it may not be listed down in the physical therapist job description, compassion and understanding play a great part in physical therapy careers because often, it is your ability to encourage patients that will make them succeed in accomplishing goals towards treatment.
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