Physical Therapists help their patients recover from injury and often assist in post-operative care. It is a rewarding career that has a very promising outlook in the future job market. However, the path to achieving this career goal can be a rather involved one, which requires extensive knowledge of the human anatomy and its systems. Here are the steps you must take to become a physical therapist.
- Complete an Undergraduate School Program. You must typically obtain a Bachelor’s Degree before you can go on to complete a Physical Therapy Program. Though you don’t have to major in anything in particular to become a Physical Therapist, you should probably take courses which will be related to the field, such as biology and anatomy. Taking some time to volunteer at the physical therapy department in hospitals or medical centers is also a great idea, as it will give you some real world experience in your future chosen profession.
- Obtain a Graduate Degree. You are required to complete either a Master’s or Doctoral degree program in order to become a Physical Therapist. These programs must be approved by the American Physical Therapy Association. If you’ve decided to obtain a Master’s, then you can expect this to take anywhere between 2 to 2.5 years, and earning a Doctorate takes approximately three years to achieve. In these programs you will receive both classroom and lab training, and courses will include physiology, behavioral science, and diagnostics, just to name a few.
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If you’ve been thinking about becoming an Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA), then you’re probably wondering about the kind of salary that you might expect should you reach your career goal. Of course, this salary will depend upon many different factors, such as area of employment, level of education, field of work, as well as the experience you possess. However, websites such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other salary specific sites can help you establish the average salary of an Occupational Therapy Assistant.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage is $24.52, while the average annual wage is $51,010. These figures are based upon 27,720 people being employed as Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants nationwide. The annual wage ranges from $33,110 to $70,790, with lower 10% of the Occupational Therapy Assistants making $15.92 per hour, and the top 10% earning $34.03 per hour.
Geographical Occupational Therapist Assistant Salary Data
There are states which have a greater number of people within the Occupational Therapy Assistant profession. Ohio has roughly 2,490 Occupational Therapy Assistants and has an average annual wage of $50,860, while California has 2,030 individuals in this career field, who earn an average of $60,090 per year. Nevada offers the highest pay for occupational therapy assistants considering 2,000+ people in this profession earn $64,470 per year. Texas comes in at second, with its 1,950 Occupational Therapy Assistants earning an average annual salary of $62,410. The ideal metropolitan area to live in if you are in this field, in terms of salary, is the Houston, Texas area, due to the fact that the 450 individuals employed as Occupational Therapy Assistants are paid an average annual salary of $69,870.
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Physical therapy is a profession which helps patients rehabilitate after surgery, car accidents or a medical disorder like back pain, arthritis, bone and joint problems, stroke, head injuries and heart disease to just name a few. Physical therapists help restore the body’s function to as close to normal as possible after any type of traumatic event. This may also include improving joint motion, decreasing pain, increasing exercise endurance, and help restore ability to ambulate. Finally physical therapists also promote good health, fitness and prevention of disease.
There are close to 200,000 physical therapists in the USA. The majority of these professionals work in hospital settings. Others work in rehabilitation centers, private clinics, sports clinics, along side orthopedic surgeons, skilled nursing homes and in outpatient facilities.
Unlike many other allied health professions, physical therapy has the most rigorous requirements for entry into college. In order to enter a physical therapy program, one must have graduated from high school with good grades. The competition to enter physical therapy program is intense. The program for physical therapy is 3-4 years.
The first two years involve learning about the basic and clinical sciences. This includes developing a solid knowledge about anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, neuroanatomy, growth and development, pathology, and clinical medicine. In the last two years, there is more practical course work done with patients, which includes learning how to obtain a history and performing a good physical examination. Finally, all physical therapists are taught how to perform therapeutic procedures.
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Speech therapists, also known as speech pathologists, work with individuals who have a variety of speech related problems. This may include an inability to make sound, lack of word rhythm, limited fluency, voice disorders and even those who have difficulty swallowing. Speech pathologists diagnose and offer treatment for many speech disorders–some of which may be caused by a problem in the mouth, and others that may be due some type of brain damage.
Speech therapy is considered a very prestigious occupation and these individuals are in very high demand. There are about 120,000 speech therapists in the United States – about 50 percent work in schools (e.g. preschool, kindergarten, elementary and high schools). The rest work in hospitals, private clinics, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, long term nursing facilities and even child day care services. Today, many speech pathologist are self employed and offer consultations for physicians.
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Anyone who is interested in pursuing a career in physical therapy should be aware of the average physical therapist salary in their local area, as well as metropolitan areas and various states. There are a variety of resources available to you if you are looking for this type of information, with one of the most popular sources being the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Every year the U.S. Government compiles data from the labor market in order to educate the public, private sector, Congress, federal agencies, as well as State and local governments. Using this information can be helpful in making wiser decisions regarding your interest in the physical therapy field.
The average physical therapist salary, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report released in 2010, was $77,990 in 2008. This was the mean annual wage for the 180,280 employed therapists in the United States at the time, and their equivalent mean hourly wage was $37.50. The middle 50 percent of those employed at the time earned an annual amount between $64,3230 and $90,350. The highest 10 percent earned over $107,920 while the lowest 10 percent of employed therapists earned less than $53,620.
This data, along with the statistics to be mentioned throughout this article, has been compiled from the Occupational Employment Statistics Survey Program. This national program releases information for educational and analytical purposes on a regular basis. It is often more current than the statistics you will find on an occupation’s descriptive page on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.
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Physical therapy assistants play an important part in a patient’s healing process. Their caring yet encouraging nature helps the physical therapist to design a treatment that will improve mobility, lessen pain or both. They can also be a second eye for the physical therapist by recording patient findings in an efficient manner.
Physical Therapist Assistant Overview
Under the direction of a physical therapist, assistants may perform a variety of duties that include, but are not limited to – teaching patients how to walk in crutches, massaging, exercise, and gait and balance training. They may also utilize a number of therapeutic methods such as electrical stimulation, mechanical traction and ultrasound. Physical therapist assistants may also fit a patient for prosthesis, braces or other devices that will aid in their mobility. They are also responsible for recording all patient responses and outcome so that the physical therapist can determine patient progress.
Depending on the health care facility, they may supervise a physical therapy aide. Physical therapist assistant may also be required to perform clerical duties such as scheduling appointments, taking inventory, filing paperwork and making sure that patient forms are filled out correctly. They may also be responsible for cleaning the work area and making sure that all equipment and supplies are stored correctly.
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Pediatrics is a medical specialty that deals with children. Today physical therapy is a large component of pediatrics. Children essentially have congenital (inherited) and non-congenital conditions that may benefit from physical therapy. The disability from these medical conditions is often life long and requires prolonged physical therapy.
One of the most common childhood disorders that requires pediatric physical therapy is spina bifida. In this disorder, which occurs during pregnancy, the spine fails to develop properly. There are several types of spina bifida that also differ in severity. Spina bifida occulta is the least severe form where there is incomplete closure of the back portion of the bones that make up the spine. Many children have a tuft of hair gowning in the midline of the lower back. This disorder usually causes no symptoms. The two most severe types of spina bifida include a meningocele and myelomeningocele.
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Pediatric occupational therapy is a profession that involves helping children perform functional tasks so that these individuals will learn to become independent as adults. These professionals work with children of all ages ranging from infants to teenagers.
Unlike adults, the growing child has many skills that need simultaneous development. Impairment in any one area can lead to stunted development in other organ systems. Thus, pediatric occupational therapy involves close cooperation from many other healthcare professionals and continual need to assess the child.
All pediatric occupational therapist’s utilize play as the core medium when teaching children. Playing is soothing, motivating for children and comes naturally to most children. Because children grow fast, parental education and involvement is vital for success. The same principles of play are used at home to stimulate children.
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There is a great demand for occupational therapists in the US. The Labor Department indicates that a 25% job growth in occupational therapy is going to occur within the next 5 years, which will create thousands of jobs at all levels in the profession.
Many people are interested in career fields like occupational therapy which incorporates the theoretical practices of anthropology, sociology and psychology. These professionals work in a number of different industries. It is their responsibility to help people to cope with their daily issues while functioning at optimum levels. Sometimes these problems affect their clients physically, emotionally and socially. For those who are interested in this career, there are a number of qualified occupational therapy schools that offer great accredited training programs and occupational therapy courses.
Among the allied healthcare professions, OT is one of the most prestigious and more students are interested in attending occupational therapy schools than ever before. For those keen to train as an occupational therapist, there are lots of OT programs available. While most occupational programs are consistent and provide good training, there are some that are more thorough and exceptional.
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For those wanting to get into the lucrative occupational therapy career but who don’t have the time or resources to obtain a postgraduate level of education, an occupational therapist assistant (OTA) position may be exactly what you’re looking for. These individuals work under the supervision of licensed occupational therapist to provide rehabilitative services to individuals with mental, physical, emotional or developmental problems.
These people need the help of competent professionals to help them improve the quality of their life and their ability to perform everyday activities at work or home. More examples of OTA duties include helping individuals with learning disabilities compensated for their inabilities, or helping injured employees who may have lost some physical ability or motor skills to rejoin the workforce by working with them to adapt to their impairment and compensate as effectively as possible.
Occupational therapist assistants also help patients perform rehabilitative activities and exercises developed by the occupational therapist, teach them how to move from the bed to a wheelchair, or show them ways to care for and stretch their muscles. They also assist the occupational therapist to monitor patient activities, assist them with proper form, and provide essential motivation and encouragement.
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