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Physical Therapists

Also called: Physical Therapist (PT), Staff Physical Therapist, Home Care Physical Therapist, Outpatient Physical Therapist

What they do:
Assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and improve or correct disabling conditions resulting from disease or injury.
On the job, you would:
  • Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention.
  • Plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients.
  • Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient's chart or enter information into computer.

Knowledge

Health
  • medicine and dentistry
  • therapy and counseling
Business
  • customer service
Education and Training
  • teaching and course design
Arts and Humanities
  • English language

Skills

Basic Skills
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • talking to others
Problem Solving
  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
Social
  • understanding people's reactions
  • changing what is done based on other people's actions

Abilities

Verbal
  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say
Ideas and Logic
  • notice when problems happen
  • use rules to solve problems
Attention
  • pay attention to something without being distracted
  • do two or more things at the same time
Hand and Finger Use
  • keep your arm or hand steady

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include
helping people, teaching, and talking.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Concern for Others
  • Dependability
  • Integrity
  • Cooperation
  • Self Control
  • Analytical Thinking

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Medical software
  • Advantage Software Physical Therapy Advantage
  • Clinicient Insight
Action games
  • Biometrics video game software
Accounting software
  • MediGraph software

Education

Education: (rated 5 of 5)
master's degree or
doctoral/professional degree
usually needed

Get started on your career:

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Job Outlook

Bright Outlook
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
Salary
$78,270
per year, on average
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about physical therapists.