Physical Therapist Assistant Essay

As a physical therapist, one is able to make a difference in the lives of the patients he or she encounters. Whether they have a minor injury, such as a broken

Physical therapists also can consult and practice with other professionals, such as physicians, dentists, nurses, educators, social workers, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and audiologists to help them with their treatment to a patient. Conducting research or teaching is another job option for physical therapists.

Physical Therapy Assistants work under the direction of a Physical Therapist. The assistants use physical treatment to help in the improvement of a person’s mobility and alleviate pain and disability caused by injury or sickness. Physical Therapy

Beyond the educational requirements for physical therapists are the many other attributes that are needed to be successful. A career as a physical therapist requires a lot of studied skills, personal characteristics and physical fitness. A physical therapist should enjoy working with people and helping others. An ability to listen to patients and understand is important to success. Patients are often a victim of a traumatic experience, injury or are afflicted by a debilitating disease. The emotional distress can often be as trying as the physical dysfunction. (Kottler 11) Communicating and teaching skills are needed to help patients learn new movements and exercises to practice on their own. Physical therapists help patients set goals, regain and strengthen muscles and flexibility. Helping a patient find confidence in the program helps them to

Everyone feels good about themselves when they help someone accomplish something. I feel overwhelmed with joy when I help people. Becoming a physical therapist assistant (pta) will allow me to feel that kind of happiness. Whereas I want to become a physical therapist assistant so I can help people, a physical therapist assistant is the perfect career for me given that physical therapy will always be needed. This career will allow me to interact with patients and learn about them. I will help patients regain their movement and manage pain whether it was from surgery or a type of illness. The schooling will be tough, but the end will be worth it.

“Advancement prospects are excellent for Physical Therapy Assistants. Individuals can advance their career by becoming full-fledged physical therapists” (“Physical Therapy Assistant”) so it’s simple as that the advancement is just becoming a physical therapist. A physical therapist is pretty much the highest level in that specific area in the medical field they do everything for patients and the assistants just reinforce what their orders are. There are some extra things necessary to become a physical therapist though “in order to climb the career ladder, however, the Physical Therapy Assistant must take additional training. This usually includes at least another two years of schooling in an institution that has an accredited program in physical therapy” (“Physical Therapy

Physical therapy assistant is a health care professional who provides physical therapy services based on the direction and supervision of a licensed physical therapy assistant. This professional helps individuals of all ages who have medical issues and health-related conditions that restrict their ability to move and carry out functional activities in daily life. A physical therapy assistant can work in various settings such as private practices, hospitals, home health, sport facilities, schools, outpatient clinics, and nursing homes. The physical therapy assistant is also responsible for evaluating the changes in a patient's performance based on the physical therapy provided. The kind of care provided by a physical therapy assistant may incorporate teaching the patient to exercise mobility, the use of physical agents, strength and coordination, electrotherapy, and training for various activities like walkers and crutches ("Who Are Physical Therapist Assistants?" 2012). For an individual to become a physical therapy assistant, he/she is required to be licensed, certified, or registered by the state. In this case, the educational requirements and examination criteria are usually stipulated based on the particular state requiring licensure.

With the job outlook of the physical therapy field being expected to grow by 34 percent by 2024, faster than the average occupation, the average annual wage at a whopping $84,020, paid sick and vacation days and the flexible work environment, this seems like the perfect profession to enter. Having a career in physical therapy can be very rewarding because a physical therapist gets to watch as his or her patients improve every appointment through treatment. Unfortunately, this is not always the case in this profession. There are many disadvantages, and knowing these will help anyone interested in this field have a better understanding of how tough pursuing a career in this field can be. Being a physical therapist can be a rewarding experience and have amazing benefits. However, it is important to be aware of the disadvantages: the extreme amount of education, physical demands, emotional demands and the continuation of education requirements.

This takes more time and effort from both the patient and the physical therapist assistant. There are patients who will need to adapt to having an artificial limb or being permanently confined to a wheelchair. Patients with these kinds of impairments will be stressed emotionally with the limitations they have with their body; a physical therapist assistant must also help that patient to improve their state of mind. Overall, it’s about helping a patient regain independence as much as possible. Along with the team, a physical therapist assistant will also help with the evaluation of a patient’s condition, “An evaluation can include measuring the patient's strength, range of motion, and functional ability; that is, how well the patient performs certain physical tasks” (Mayo Clinic). Once the evaluation is done, the physical therapist will develop a treatment plan for the patient that the physical therapist assistant has to carry out (Mayo Clinic). When carrying out this treatment plan, the physical therapist assistant must “observe [the patient] before and during therapy, [take note of] their status and [report] to a physical therapist (Bureau of Labor Statistics). If a procedure it a little more complicated both the physical therapist and the assistant will work alongside each other to get the job done. However, most routine visits will be done by the physical therapist assistant alone. They also help patients by teaching them how to use things like canes, braces, walkers,

As a physician assistant one is able to help people every day and get paid to do it. That is very cool that you can have the opportunity to save lives and do what you love while getting paid a very nice salary. I love working with either younger children or older adults. I truly enjoy helping and making people happy. The other perk of helping different people daily is that your brain stays very sharp and is forced to do a lot of work. Instead of doing one task mindlessly over and over

Physical Therapist is citing from website; www.apta.org/aboutpts " physical therapist are highly-educated licensed health care professionals who can help patients reduce pain and improve or restore mobility.

The working conditions for physical therapists are fairly attractive, mainly because of the wide range of choices. Physical therapists can choose the setting they want to work in. Though a large number of physical therapists work in hospitals, now more than 70 percent of them can be found in private physical therapy offices, community health centers, corporate or industrial health centers, sports facilities, research institutions, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, home health agencies, schools, pediatric centers, colleges, and universities ("A Future" 9). Most physical

Proceeding in the Physical Therapy career gives a great variety of options, from opening your own rehabilitation center or working and applying your skills together with other therapist in sharing a rehabilitation center and having broad variety of patients. “Physical Therapist are trained to use special types of techniques, sometimes called nobinites to care for patients” (A&M Professional School Advising). “The average american Physical Therapist earns near to 90,000 in a year salary” (Sizer), earning around 40 to 50 dollars the hour, of course depending on the therapist experience, the higher the degree they accomplished, the more pay and more benefits, as well as depending on your geographic location. Choosing the University to fulfill this occupation is a straightforward decision, because numerous Universities and colleges offer this program. The University would choose to attend and would be extremely grateful to

First of all, one o benefit this career offers you is location. According to Apta.org the location is one of the main benefits. Physical Therapist can chose who they want to work with.They can choose between patients of all ages, it can be between newborn to elderly, age is not a number for them. For instance, the location not only refers to the ages, it also means that they can chose the place they

Physical Therapy is the treatment of disease, injury or deformity by physical methods such as massage, heat treatment, and exercise rather then by drug or surgery. Physical therapist are highly-educated, licensed health care professionals who help patients reduce the pain they have and help improve or restore their mobility. PTs work in many different setting including high schools, hospitals, outpatient Clinique, etc. To become a physical therapist I'll need a graduate degree- either a masters or clinical doctorate - from an accredited physical therapy program before taking the national licensure exam. There is currently 199 colleges and universities nationwide that support 212 accredited professions physical therapy programs.