Wondering what it takes to become a Physical Therapist? Well, first, let’s find out what exactly a physical therapist is. A physical therapist is a health care professional that specializes in improving the lives of those injured through rehabilitation by means of exercise, physical treatment, promotion, intervention, emotional therapy, and much more. Physical therapist requirements depends on the type of physical therapist you’re looking to pursue. If you’re looking to be a physical therapist assistant, then you may only need a technical school program which could last about 1-2 years, however, if the interest of private physical therapy, or head PT (physical therapist) of a hospital, clinic, or private office, then it will be necessary to acquire a master’s degree in physical therapy. Of course, this could take upwards of 3 to 4 years, but the perks of this honored achievement are well worth it. Being in high demand, a licensed PT can look to earn $70,000-$80,000 in their first year.
Because this profession is such a broad field, physical therapy is broken up into nine specialty areas: Cardiovascular & Pulmonary, Clinical Electrophysiology, Geriatric, Integumentary, Neurological, Orthopedic, Pediatric, Sports, and Women’s Health. Each of these specialty clinical areas require slightly different physical therapist requirements to which the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties has eight elite certifications. Overall, the general physical therapist requirements including all of the general sciences, such as the basic sciences, biology, anatomy, physics, etc. But also include biomechanics, neuroscience, radiology, pharmacology, and pathology. Students are also required to have supervised clinical experience. To be come certified, you must first graduate from a recognized physical therapy education program. Once that is knocked out, the physical therapist requirements include completing your state requirements, passing the National Physical Therapy Examination, and keeping up with your education to maintain your PT license. This is not required, however it would be helpful to have strong social and communicational skills because of how close you will be to your patients.
Being a PT can be a very gratifying job. The stress level is relatively low, and the nature of the work keeps you healthy and active. Furthermore, the PT field is so large that you can specifically chose what area interests you the most, giving a much more pleasurable experience. If you don’t want to be confined to a doctor’s office, you don’t have to, and with the rising demand for PTs, it will be no problem finding your position of choice. Currently, there is a high demand for PTs, being close to 200,000 jobs currently, the market for PTs still continues to increase. By 2018, the amount of job openings for PTs is estimated to increase 30% and continue increasing after that. This is because as time goes on, people will always need therapy and a constant supply of PTs will always be necessary. Of course, don’t forget that becoming a PT is not a walk in the park, it takes time and dedication to master all of the information to be successful at this occupation, but persevering through it will in return give you one of the best jobs any person could ask for.
