Physical Therapy Career Opportunities
Physical therapy or sometimes referred to as physiotherapy is a profession which provides services to individuals from all ages. This health care profession addresses issues of impairment, functional limitation and disability. Some doctors would often send their patients to physical therapist to avoid surgery.
Patients who needed physical therapy are often victims of aging, injury, disease or environmental factors. Physical therapists can restore the function, increase the body parts mobility, assist in pain management, or even prevent physical disabilities. Physical therapists would often attend to accident victims, patients with lower back pains, arthritis, heart disease, and patients with cerebral palsy.
Part of a physical therapists duties would be checking and examining the medical history of a patient. There would be series of tests to measure the patients strength, range of motion, balance and coordination. It is part of the responsibility of a physical therapist to create a treatment plan.
Statistics showed that in 2006, there were 173,000 physical therapists in the United States. There were some physical therapists who are working two jobs. They may work in a private service and also work part-time in another health care facility.
Where do most physical therapists work?
There are 60 percent of physical therapists in hospitals or in physical therapist offices. Physical therapists can also be found in nursing care facilities, outpatient care centers and sports and fitness centers. Physical therapists may also open their own practice and work with own clients. There are also physical therapists who also teach in schools and universities and conduct research in relation to their profession.
Researchers foresee that PT employment is expected to increase by 27 percent from 2006 to 2016. This is faster compare to other occupations. The reason why it is a faster growing occupation is that there are new treatments and techniques being developed which expands physical therapy practices. Also, there are increasing numbers of people suffering disabilities and inability to function.
The aging population is also another factor. Since physical therapy is also concerned with the elderly who often fall to chronic conditions which require therapy. There are also increasing number of children who need physical therapy, since the baby-boom also led to several children with severe birth defects or problems.
Physical therapists earn the following figures according to the Industries Employing the Largest Numbers of Physical Therapists in 2006:
Home health care services: $70,920
Nursing care facilities: $68,650
General medical and surgical hospitals: $66,630
Offices of physicians: $65,900
Offices of physical, occupational and speech therapists, and audiologists: $65,150
Another opportunity opening up to physical therapist would be the travelling physical therapy jobs. Travelling physical therapy jobs offer a chance to work in a different location. Work will also include the same responsibilities for physical therapists who stay in one location only.
This job can be both secured for the long time and short time based on the contract. Before qualifying to be a travelling physical therapist, on-the-job experience and associate degree is needed.
A travelling physical therapy professional can also have the following benefits:
Health benefits
Paid housing
Relocation expenses
Travel expenses
Professional liability insurance
Short-term disability insurance
Additional state license
Continuing education programs
H1B visas and green cards
401(k) retirement savings plan
Immigration processing (for internationally trained employees)
