Physical Therapist
Michelle Bogdan Period 7/8
Career Detailes
- Description: Physical therapists evaluate, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitation programs that help people improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, improve or correct disabling conditions resulting from disease or an injury.
- Working Schedule: Most physical therapists work 40 hours per week; some may work nights and weekends. Part-time work is also available in this field.
- Working Location: Most physical therapists work in clinics, hospitals and private offices.
- Salary/Wage Potential: The BLS reports the median annual wage for a physical therapist was $78,270 in 2011. The best-paid 10 percent of workers in the category made approximately $110,670, while the bottom 10 percent made approximately $54,710.
Education Needed
- To become a physical therapist, you must enroll in an academic program approved by the Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) and earn either a masters or doctoral degree in physical therapy.
- Typical courses include: biology, physiology, neuroscience, behavioral science, and others.
Skills Required
- Professional skills and values such as accountability, integrity, compassion, responsibility
- Management skills
- Goal-setting skills to set a plan of care in action
- Communication skills for patient/family
- First-Aid, CPR, safety, in case of emergency
- Assess and review all systems of the body to determine the need for physical therapy.
- Perform tests for range of motion, neuromotor skills, and reflexes.
- Clinical reasoning and decision-making to determine a diagnosis (what's wrong with the patient) and prognosis (will the patient improve, how much, and when)
- Use of orthotics, prosthetics, walkers, wheelchairs, and other supportive devices
Job Outlook/Growth
- By 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects physical therapist employment growth of 39 percent, with the field adding 77,400 more jobs.
Advancement Opportunities & Related Jobs
- Advancement Opportunities: Become a physical therapist doctor my receiving a doctorate degree, Physical therapists can own their own clinic, Physical therapists can become managers of a physical therapy center.
- Related Jobs: physical therapist assistant, physical trainer, occupational therapist,
Colleges!
University of Illinois
Chicago, Illinois
Dominican University
River Forest, Illinois
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois
Sources
- http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-1123.00
- http://www.usnewsuniversitydirectory.com/careers/physical-therapists_10695.aspx#.UR0lsiZGJ5Q
- http://healthcareers.about.com/od/alliedmedicalprofiles/p/PhysicalTherpst.htm
- http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/physical-therapist
- http://www.myplan.com/majors/physical-therapy-therapist/related-careers-51.2308.html