Searching

Career Exploration

Physical Therapists

Also called: Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), Home Care Physical Therapist (Home Care PT), Inpatient Physical Therapist (Inpatient PT), Pediatric Physical Therapist (Pediatric PT)

What they do:

Assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and improve or correct disabling conditions resulting from disease or injury.

On the job, you would:
  • Plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients.
  • Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention.
  • Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient's chart or enter information into computer.
On the job, you'll need:

Business

  • customer service
  • management

Health

  • therapy and counseling
  • medicine and dentistry

Math and Science

  • psychology
  • biology

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Basic Skills

  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • reading work related information

Social

  • looking for ways to help people
  • understanding people's reactions

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • notice when problems happen

Hand and Finger Use

  • keep your arm or hand steady
  • put together small parts with your fingers

Attention

  • pay attention to something without being distracted

Social

People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking.

  • Concern for Others
  • Integrity
  • Dependability
  • Social Orientation
  • Cooperation
  • Self Control

Medical software

  • eClinicalWorks EHR software
  • MEDITECH software

Word processing software

  • Exercise routine creation software
  • Microsoft Word

Spreadsheet software

  • Microsoft Excel

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Bright.

New job opportunities are very likely in the future. This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Median Annual Salary: $97,720

Education

Doctoral degree or master's degree is usually needed.