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1. Does Physical Therapy Assistant is a good job? 2.Is my career is pay off ? 3. Does this career is to hard to get in to get a job?

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Tanavi’s Answer

With the current medicare changes, I would highly recommend against being a PTA. There are very few jobs and the pay is not good as well. If I were you I would opt for a different career path.
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Karen’s Answer

There are definite advantages to getting an Associates degree as a Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA). As a Physical Therapist with a Doctorate, I wish someone had alerted me to this possibility before I dove into the load of student loan debt. I work with many PTs that started out as a PTA to earn money and gain experience and then completed a transitional program from PTA-PT. The only trouble with that is many had kids while they were completing this program that definitely added to their stress. Overall, PTAs do all of the patient treatment and don't have to do the intake and discharge paperwork that the PT has to complete. That being said, PTAs can only practice under the supervision of a PT so while there is flexibility in what you are able to do with a patient, it is a team effort among the PTA and PT and that constant collaboration is key.

At the same time, there are some upcoming changes to reimbursement from insurance for care provided by PTAs versus PTs. I still believe that PTAs will be beneficial in certain settings where these changes do no apply, however, it can definitely be used as a building block to a transitional degree from PTA to PT. Overall, PTs do not get paid equal to the educational cost of a Doctorate in Physical Therapy but if you have a good plan to knock out that debt and hustle working hard your first 5 years out of school you can knock it out and have a sustainable career as a PT without having to do the transitional PTA-PT degree.
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Beth’s Answer

A physical therapist assistant has a two year associate degree and works under the supervision of a physical therapist. The physical therapist assistant tends to do more hands on treatment but cannot assess or change the plan of care for the patient. They tend to work in places where the patient stays for several weeks or months such as skilled nursing, home health, inpatient rehabilitation or outpatient. Hospitals have a short length of stay and the patient is assessed on each visit so the do not tend to hire many PTA’s.
Recent changes in Medicare reimbursements have effected the way treatment by PTA’s is paid. However, Medicare is only one of many insurance payers. So some employers are not hiring new PTA’s at this time to see what happens with reimbursement.
PTA is a good job for someone who doesn’t want to go to college for 6-7 years but likes to work with people to get the better. You will make a living wage and be able to find a job without much trouble, but you may have to look harder than a few years ago.

Beth recommends the following next steps:

Visit APTA.org to read about PTA’s and new reimbursement issues
Check with local nursing homes and home care agencies to see if the are hiring PTA’s
Keep your grades up, PTA programs are very competitive to get into.
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