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Can you tell me more about the day to day responsibilities of a physical therapist?
I'm interested in learning more about the career path I want to take
4 answers
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Donna’s Answer
As a physical therapist for 35+ years in several different settings, I found each setting had its own rewards and challenges. PT's can work in hospitals, outpatient clinics, skilled nursing facilities,home health, school systems, etc. In each setting, it was extremely rewarding to work with patients to achieve their highest level of independence, improve their function or decrease their pain. A typical day had regularly scheduled patients for the PT to see, either for an initial evaluation or ongoing treatment. Some settings have PT Assistants or aids to help with aspects of treatments; others the PT does the entire treatment themselves. As patients improve, you change their treatment goals and set up a new program for them to work on, so the work is ever-changing and can be very challenging when a patient isn't improving or cooperating. Most patient interactions are very enjoyable.
There is always the paperwork/computer charting aspect of the job and that can be exasperating some days, but it is necessary to do that well so someone else can step in to work with your patient if you can't. Also, there are opportunities to work both full and part time in PT, as your own life events change.
PT is an excellent field and the demand will continue into the future as higher numbers of the population age.
There is always the paperwork/computer charting aspect of the job and that can be exasperating some days, but it is necessary to do that well so someone else can step in to work with your patient if you can't. Also, there are opportunities to work both full and part time in PT, as your own life events change.
PT is an excellent field and the demand will continue into the future as higher numbers of the population age.
I appreciate you taking the time to answer this.
Alexiiana
Updated
Beth’s Answer
Hello, both of the other answers were great, and I completely agree with them. I also have 35 years in the field and a variety of different settings.
Margie talked about home health- there are home health adult clients and also pediatric home health clients. With kids, they could be newborns who were premature or with birth trauma. You are teaching the family how to encourage movement and sensations through play. As with adults, you will see 4-7 clients in a day, have a 45 min session with them and document for 15-20 min per session.
Donna’s description of outpatient clinic was spot on. In outpatient, your patients come in for about 60 min, then return home. They usually come in 2-3 times per week and you give them activities at home to continue progress.
In outpatient you have flexibility for scheduling- lots of clinics like to be open 7 am - 7- pm for working clients. You could work 3, 12 hour days, or 4, 10 hour days, or 5, 8 hour days. Some clinics are open on Saturday as well.
In the clinic, you will arrive early for your shift, look over your schedule, and organize your plans for each patient. You will see 1-4 patients per hour ( if you have 4 patients, you will have an assistant, or tech to help). Your patients could have back or neck pain, they could have a broken ankle or surgical recovery. They could also have a stroke or cancer or heart problems- there is never a dull moment. You will also have paperwork on all these patients, staff meetings, and continuing education.
In a hospital setting, you also have flexible hours but weekends are also involved. There are some PT’s who work every weekend and stay home with kids during the week. You will come in to your office, sort through all the new patients who came in overnight who need therapy, grab a walker and other equipment and go see patients in their hospital rooms. Some visits are 15 min of Stretching and sitting on edge of bed then lay down again, some are 30-45 min of teaching patient and family how to get out of bed and walk or use a wheelchair to go home. You will see 8-10 patients per day, document on all of them, attend case manager meetings, staff meetings and continuing education.
There are also jobs in nursing homes, rehab hospitals, schools, sports teams, and more. You decide your niche.
There are many PT jobs out there, in many different settings. Most therapists change jobs every 5-10 years, or work extra side jobs for a change of patients.
It has been a great career, good luck!
Visit APTA.org for universities and more information
Volunteer or observe at multiple rehab sites.
Keep your grades up, PT is very competitive
Be active and stay in shape, PT is a physical job.
Margie talked about home health- there are home health adult clients and also pediatric home health clients. With kids, they could be newborns who were premature or with birth trauma. You are teaching the family how to encourage movement and sensations through play. As with adults, you will see 4-7 clients in a day, have a 45 min session with them and document for 15-20 min per session.
Donna’s description of outpatient clinic was spot on. In outpatient, your patients come in for about 60 min, then return home. They usually come in 2-3 times per week and you give them activities at home to continue progress.
In outpatient you have flexibility for scheduling- lots of clinics like to be open 7 am - 7- pm for working clients. You could work 3, 12 hour days, or 4, 10 hour days, or 5, 8 hour days. Some clinics are open on Saturday as well.
In the clinic, you will arrive early for your shift, look over your schedule, and organize your plans for each patient. You will see 1-4 patients per hour ( if you have 4 patients, you will have an assistant, or tech to help). Your patients could have back or neck pain, they could have a broken ankle or surgical recovery. They could also have a stroke or cancer or heart problems- there is never a dull moment. You will also have paperwork on all these patients, staff meetings, and continuing education.
In a hospital setting, you also have flexible hours but weekends are also involved. There are some PT’s who work every weekend and stay home with kids during the week. You will come in to your office, sort through all the new patients who came in overnight who need therapy, grab a walker and other equipment and go see patients in their hospital rooms. Some visits are 15 min of Stretching and sitting on edge of bed then lay down again, some are 30-45 min of teaching patient and family how to get out of bed and walk or use a wheelchair to go home. You will see 8-10 patients per day, document on all of them, attend case manager meetings, staff meetings and continuing education.
There are also jobs in nursing homes, rehab hospitals, schools, sports teams, and more. You decide your niche.
There are many PT jobs out there, in many different settings. Most therapists change jobs every 5-10 years, or work extra side jobs for a change of patients.
It has been a great career, good luck!
Beth recommends the following next steps:
Maria Cecilia San Juan
Management and Clinical Operations, Patient Care
12
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Maria Cecilia’s Answer
Hi Alexiiana - thanks for asking. Your day would be dependent on the environment, time of day, etc. When I was seeing patients full time, my day usually started at 4:30-4:45 a.m. - get dressed for work, eat breakfast, commute to the clinic (usually about a 20 minute drive). My schedule typically encompassed 40 hours per week of patient care, Monday through Thursday. I would see patients every hour or half hour and supervised a team of physical therapist assistants on a daily basis. The day may also include clinical meetings, phone calls (physicians, insurance companies, colleagues, etc.), prepping for patient visits, researching conditions online, etc. In between patient visits, and sometimes during my lunch break, I may be doing some of these non patient activities or completing my patient documentation. More often than not, I was still in the clinic wrapping things up and prepping for the following day before leaving to go home or run errands. Usually this would be for another 20-30 minutes. Because I worked in a high volume outpatient musculoskeletal environment, I would sometimes need to complete my notes from home after eating dinner in the evening. This time frame could be anywhere from 1-3 hours. Then, I would wrap up my day by usually unwinding with tv or a good book or magazine. I usually turn in around 11:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. Seeing patients full time could be intense, and typically non stop during the day. Even if I didn't have a patient scheduled, I was supervising, communicating with my team, doing notes, etc. When seeing patients, they were my focus - physically and mentally. In addition, about 2-3 times per week, I have my 30-45 minute exercise routine in there. It could be exhausting but so fulfilling and rewarding and quite an education. I hope this gives you a better picture of what your day may look like. Make sure you ask further questions if they arise. Thanks.
Updated
Margie’s Answer
Hi Alexiiana! I'm Margie I'm a home health physical therapist assistant in Virginia. My day to day varies but I usually get up around 6:30/7am, I try to do some type of physical activity like yoga or walk, make and eat breakfast, make my lunch and head out the door. I start seeing patients around 9/10am. On average I see 4-7 patients a day. I do home health so I go into patient's home for physical therapy. My patient population are home bound patients (there's a reason why they can't leave home for long/go to an outpatient clinic). Most of my patients are post operative (joint replacement) and chronic illness (COPD, CHF, cancer, COVD/post COVID, etc). A session is about 40-60 minutes and then I have to document on my iPad. Commuting between patients is anywhere from 5-20 minutes. I get home around 3/4pm to do some house work, make dinner, catch up on shows while doing documentation is I didn't finish and head to bed. If you would like to see more about my life as a PTA follow me on IG @notjustapta
Observing/shadowing different PT settings (most programs require you to have a set number of hours)
Decide if you want to do PTA or PT(DPT) school
Look up prerequisites for each program you're applying to
Compare with your transcript to see anything transfers or if you have to retake anything
Check deadlines and schedule any additional exams (GRE, TEAS, etc) needed.
Margie recommends the following next steps:
I appreciate you taking the time to answer this.
Alexiiana
Margie is an awesome source of info! Margie I follow you on IG and you have been a great help as I transitioned to home health!
Ashley Knoef
@Ashley Knoef thank you so much!
Margie Nguyen
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