Being a physical therapist is about helping people return to doing there normal lives with full mobility and reduced pain. They are licensed health care professionals that have the most specialized education to help people restore and improve motion. The physical therapist's job is to examine an individual and develop a plan for treatment that will improve the ability to move, restore function, and reduce pain.
As of 2015, the annual median pay is $84,020 so the hourly median pay is $40.4 per hour. This depends on position, years of experience, degree of education, geographic location, and practice setting. As of 2014 there were 210,900 physical therapists working in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment …show more content…
Twenty years ago, to get a job you just needed a bachelor's degree. All physical therapy programs run on different schedules. Some programs are seven years. This means the student gets a four year degree in kinesiology, exercise science, or biology, and then either apply to a graduate program or are already in the program from when the first applied. The students who have to apply to a graduate program must take the GREs which is a standardized test like the SATs. Some programs like the one I was accepted into, are six year accelerated programs. It guarantees admission into the graduate program. It is a five year undergraduate program and then a final year of graduate school. Besides the first summer, there are classes during the summer so you can finish in six years. To become a physical therapist one must graduate from an accredited physical therapy program before taking the national licensure exam that allows them to practice. This exam is a state administered national exam. Other requirements vary from state to state for a physical therapy practice according to certain physical therapy practice acts or state regulations.
Required education has increased over the years from a basic degree to a masters and now to a doctorate. This has changed to a doctorate because now someone can come off the street to a physical therapy clinic and get treatment where as before a patient needed to go to a doctor and the physical therapist had to be told what their injury was and how to treat it. As a future physical therapist I am excited to be able to gain a degree in which I can help people everyday and be able to see the different I’m making in people's
As of 2015, the annual median pay is $84,020 so the hourly median pay is $40.4 per hour. This depends on position, years of experience, degree of education, geographic location, and practice setting. As of 2014 there were 210,900 physical therapists working in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment …show more content…
Twenty years ago, to get a job you just needed a bachelor's degree. All physical therapy programs run on different schedules. Some programs are seven years. This means the student gets a four year degree in kinesiology, exercise science, or biology, and then either apply to a graduate program or are already in the program from when the first applied. The students who have to apply to a graduate program must take the GREs which is a standardized test like the SATs. Some programs like the one I was accepted into, are six year accelerated programs. It guarantees admission into the graduate program. It is a five year undergraduate program and then a final year of graduate school. Besides the first summer, there are classes during the summer so you can finish in six years. To become a physical therapist one must graduate from an accredited physical therapy program before taking the national licensure exam that allows them to practice. This exam is a state administered national exam. Other requirements vary from state to state for a physical therapy practice according to certain physical therapy practice acts or state regulations.
Required education has increased over the years from a basic degree to a masters and now to a doctorate. This has changed to a doctorate because now someone can come off the street to a physical therapy clinic and get treatment where as before a patient needed to go to a doctor and the physical therapist had to be told what their injury was and how to treat it. As a future physical therapist I am excited to be able to gain a degree in which I can help people everyday and be able to see the different I’m making in people's