Physical Therapy Offers Opportunities to Work With All Ages

In the coming decade, those searching for a career in health care will find significant job growth in physical therapy, which offers work with patients of all ages.

The need for physical therapists (PT), therapist assistants and aides in this field is increasing at both ends of the age spectrum. The aging of the baby boomer population will increase the need for age-related therapy for cardiac and other types of physical rehabilitation.  And strides are being made to the medical care of newborns including their rehabilitative care.

Between those two age groups is a wide range of services that physical therapists provide to people with chronic conditions, injuries, amputations, burns and illnesses that impair movement (such as cerebral palsy). In addition, access to these services has improved with recent changes to Medicare reimbursement policies that allow payments for services by third-party payers.

From now until 2018, physical therapist jobs are projected to grow by 30 percent and PT assistant and aide jobs will grow by 35 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Job growth is expected to be much greater than in other professions, but the BLS also projects there will be significant competition among qualified individuals for assistant and aide jobs.

Advanced education beyond a bachelor's degree has become the norm for today's physical therapists and professional licensing is required. Most states require PT assistants to have an associate degree and licensing, while physical therapy aides generally learn their skills on the job and aren't required to be licensed.

Advancement and job growth expected at all levels of physical therapy field

There are widespread opportunities to advance within the physical therapy profession. Physical therapists can move on to supervisory positions within hospitals and other health care organizations. PT assistants often train in specific areas such as geriatrics, pediatric and cardiopulmonary therapy that are recognized by the American Physical Therapy Association. To keep licenses current, many states require therapists and assistants to take continuing education courses.

In 2008, the BLS reports there were 185,500 physical therapists in the United States, as well as 63,800 PT assistants and 46,100 aides; the median annual salaries were $109,900 for physical therapists, $46,140 for assistants and $23,760 for aides.

Beyond working with patients in clinical settings, both physical therapists and assistants may be hired to teach at accredited PT programs. There are also opportunities within school systems, because the federal Disabilities Education Act guarantees access to rehabilitative services for students in need of physical and related therapies.

Aides, who help prepare patients for their therapy sessions and may assist in moving them to treatment areas, can progress into PT assistant jobs by gaining experience, taking an accredited course for their associate's degree and becoming licensed.

With the substantial growth in the profession expected during the next decade and the increasing cost of health care, physical therapists are expected to rely more on assistants and aides to lower the cost of services. Once the therapist determines a patient's treatment plan, an assistant may provide much of the treatment under the therapist's direction.