Training and Duties of a Physical Therapist
The field of physical therapy is somewhat demanding but incredibly rewarding. Physical therapists are charged with the cause of helping individuals to regain function, whether it be for sports injuries, medical issues, or accidents. Physical therapists can work in hospitals, private practices, or physicians’ offices to help individuals to regain movement and flexibility in specific areas of the body.
Physical therapists will not be able to perform these functions without the proper training. This training is extensive, with individuals going through four year programs before attending school for specific physical therapy education. Those interested in becoming a therapist will need to attend a school accredited by the American Physical Therapy Association’s Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).
Graduate level courses will take approximately two years to complete, whereas doctoral programs are going to take about three years to complete. The classes that students should expect to take will include general sciences such as anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and pathology. Students will also take exercise physiology and clinical reasoning courses. Medical screening and examination tests are a part of the curriculum, as are clinical studies that help students to understand exactly how to work with patients for their various issues and problems. This education will eventually lead to the state licensing requirements, which include the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) and logged clinical hours.
This intensive education is needed because of the various responsibilities and duties of a physical therapist. Physical therapists must first be able to understand the issue. They must work with doctors to understand the potential issues with the body and will pull from their own knowledge to understand how to best combat flexibility and pain. From that point, physical therapists will pull from knowledge to put the patient through various treatment techniques. These techniques are crucial, as they will help the patient to regain function and movement in the body part that needs work.
Physical therapists can specialize in various types of therapy. Some will work as sports therapists, specializing in the injuries suffered by athletes. Others will specialize in physical therapy for aging individuals, helping to keep them active and healthy and helping to restore some mobility that may be lost due to poor flexibility and arthritis.
Physical therapy professionals will have assistants who can help them as they work with multiple patients. These assistants generally help patients to complete the different exercises that have been given to them by the main physical therapist. These professionals need assistants, as they are constantly working with various patients at any given time. They will even work with other individuals in health care fields, such as physicians, nurses, and dietitians, to come up with a complete plan that will help the patient to regain function.
Those interested in the physical therapy field should know that the field is growing at a rapid rate. The job market is expected to expand by 30 percent over the next ten years due to demand, higher than other health care professionals like nursing and respiratory therapy.
Related posts: