Job Responsibilities
Assessing, Diagnosing, and Treating physical impairments in any
of the following areas: musculoskeletal (muscles, bones,
ligaments, tendons, nerves, arteries, etc...), neurology (brain,
spinal cord, nerves), and/or cardiorespiratory (heart, lungs,
post surgical, or patients with medical diagnosis that cause them
to deteriorate physically). In a hospital, the most common
issues are medical problems that cause physical deterioration and
cardiorespiratory issues. In a private practice (where people go
to a clinic and pay the health care practitioner directly without
the need for a doctor's refferal), the most common issues are
orthopaedic.
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Job Requirements
It is quite difficult to enter the field of physical therapy. I
went to school in Canada where there are now the following
requirements: it is a graduate degree which means that you need
to aquire a university degree in any field, as long as you take
certain coursses such as physiology, anatomy, psychology, and a
few others. After you finish your degree (Sciences, Arts, or
other), you may apply for the graduate program in Physical
Therapy. The first part of the entrance process is based on your
grades. The highest grade point averages are chosen and
depending on the university, they may choose up to 500
applicants. You need to have at least an A average to be
competitive. Once the applicants have been chosen based on the
highest grade point averages, there is an interview process which
narrows down the candidates to between 30 to 70 students per
class, again, depending on the university.
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Uppers
The best part of the job is the satisfaction you get from seeing a patient
through an illness and having a large part in their rehabiliation and getting
them better.
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Downers
Unfortunately, not all patients get better and in fact, often
pass away. The hardest part of the job is moving forward and
staying positive when your services can no longer help a patient.
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Lifestyle
You should seriously consider volunteering in as many different
physical therapy settings as possible to gain experience in the
field. Often, if you have not worked or volunteered in a
physical therapy setting, your application for admission will not
even be considered.
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Compensation
The pay differs: in a hospital setting, you often get paid by
the hour and the pay ranges from $23 to $30 an hour depending on
your experience and training. In a private practice, you can
either go on salary or get paid per patient. If you get paid per
patient, you often get a percentage of the overall intake (for
example, between 30-50%).
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Advice to Jobseekers
You should seriously consider volunteering in as many different
physical therapy settings as possible to gain experience in the
field. Often, if you have not worked or volunteered in a
physical therapy setting, your application for admission will not
even be considered.
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