Which Physical Therapy Assistant Schools Should I Go To?
Looking for the right physical therapy assistant schools is no easy task. When you are looking for the right school for you on your way to becoming a PT assistant, you need to consider a few things.
Do I want to stay near home?
Do I want to go to a college or university that is far away?
Do I want to take classes online?
How much prior experience do I have?
Will I have enough money to go wherever or want, or do finances narrow my decisions of PT schools I can go to?
Also consider whether the PT program offers mentoring, potential internships, and job placement rates. Search on the web or phone different PT colleges to see if they can forward you any information.
Finally, its important to remember that great students can come from anywhere. One physical therapist that had been working for 15 years said that he has seen, “duds from top schools, and superstars from bottom schools. Point being it is the individual, not the school that makes a difference.”
A word of caution about PT school rankings you may see on the Internet. Oftentimes with these rankings, school programs with smaller emphases do their ranking are purely based on peer reviews from other physical therapy schools, without factoring in any test scores or job placement statistics for physical therapist assistants. That being said, sometimes it can simply turn into a popularity contest rather than a straightforward view. You can still learn from PT school reviews, you just need to take them with a grain of salt.
Different PT Assistant School Settings
There is quite the divide and argument about the value online PT schools and actual face-to-face programs. There are a few benefits and drawbacks of an online program.
Pros:
- Can work at your own pace
- Typically programs are less expensive
Cons:
- Less hands on work, which is important
Verdict: if you’ve had prior experience, then the hands on work is probably less important. If you are looking for introductory level physical therapy classes and have no experience, then a traditional program would probably serve you better. Also, an online program means that a PT internship would be important.
What to Expect at different Physical Therapy Assistant Schools
Typically, classes tend to look similar to the types of classes that pre-med students take. Science classes, with a strong tendency towards biology and anatomy, tend to dominate the class schedule. Some of these classes are notably more difficult than others, but there is a lot of variation from school to school and course to course.
Typically, in order to get your degree as PT assistant, there is usually about 60 credit hours, or 20 classes worth of major credits. That means if you already have an associates degree, with some hard work, you could get you degree in two years at a traditional university PT program.
Sometimes, physical therapist assistant degrees are offered as an emphasis for another degree, such as biology, health science or kinesiology. This would affect you in the fact that the majority of your courses may be more general and not as career specific as you would like. However, one professor at a college that only offers physical therapist assistant degrees as an emphasis assures that their students are, “just as prepared as all of the other students at other universities to enter the work place.”
Ask around at different schools to see whether they offer the degree as an emphasis or as a full-blow major. As you visit other schools webpages, you will see what they specifically have to offer you.
What is a physical therapy assistant? What are the tasks expected from them? What are the requirements to become one?
Physical Therapy Assistant’s main responsibility is to provide assistance to a physical therapist to improve patients overall condition, treatment of muscle pains and prevents or lessen physical disabilities, especially for elderly patients. They work under the supervision and the direction of a physical therapist.
Physical therapy assistants are expected to perform different tasks according to what the physical therapist needs. They do tasks like helping a patient do his exercises, give massages, do electrical stimulation, paraffin baths, provide hot and cold packs, traction and ultrasound. They also record the patient’s responses to treatment and the outcome of every treatment to the physical therapist.
Physical therapy assistants need to be in a good physical condition with enough strength every time they perform the task required from them because most of the time they need to lift a patient, frequently kneeling especially if they are giving massage to the lower torso of a patient, stooping, bending and standing for long periods during the job.
Most physical therapy assistants are working part-time and usually jump from different physical therapy offices and clinics. Many physical therapy offices and clinics have evening and weekend sessions, they provide this kind of services in order to accommodate a patient according to their schedule and preference, which is why most of the time physical therapy assistant’s schedule is not fixed.
Physical therapy assistants are required by law to have an associate degree from an accredited physical therapy assistant program. Academic coursework and hands on clinical experience are part of physical therapy assistant programs. Academic coursework covers a lot of subject ranging from psychology, physiology, and anatomy. Clinical work will include certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid and field experience in clinics and treatment centers. The employment status is expected to even grow higher in number because of the increasing demand for physical therapy services.
Let’s look at all of the top occupational therapy schools where you can learn how to be an occupational therapist. In this article you’ll learn all about the different ways you can become an occupational therapist!
Steps to Becoming an Occupational Therapist
To become an occupational therapist you are going to need to get a bachelors degree at least, and be certified as a occupational therapist. The job description is pretty straightforward, your helping a friend people rehabilitate, develop, and learn day to day tasks, no matter how menial they may be. Some patients need to start from scratch, especially after something like a head injury, or car accident. Occupational therapists play an absolutely massive role in patients getting back to day to day life.
Different Careers for Occupational Therapists
Once you have got your degree in occupational therapy, there are certainly a number of different career choices for you to take. One example would be to work in the school system with different students. Others, choose to work right inside a patient’s home, which is a very common place for an occupational therapist to find themselves on a day-to-day basis. Other still, will work inside of a hospital, very closely with doctors who are still looking after certain patients. Other occupational therapists will work inside group homes or halfway homes, and deal with people’s mental and physical problems.
List of Occupational Therapy Schools
Alabama University: University of Alabama has a very good occupational therapist degree program, that will let many people in, yet still has a very strict and tough course load before you could ever get your degree.
Illinois University: Illinois University is definitely among the top schools in North America, and especially the United States that offers an occupational therapist degree. Getting your certificate at the school will definitely set you ahead of the rest of the pack who are trying to fight the same career as you.
Virginia University: Virginia University is also known for producing many future occupational therapist, as it has the type of courses and great professors at that school that prepare you for such a career so well.
University of Maryland: this article certainly would not be complete without mentioning the University of Maryland because it is easily one of the top schools in the United States that is producing a high number of occupational therapist, due to its very specialized bachelor degree programs.
Occupational Therapist Salary
The median salary for occupational therapist is $72,000, with most therapist starting at roughly $60,000 a year. This number can definitely raise, depending on what area you live in, or if you specialization, with some occupational therapists seeing upwards of $85,000 a year plus benefits.
As you can see, certainly it is going to be a long ride before you finish occupational therapist school, but after you are done your education and training, and have a certificate and also a bachelors degree, you will definitely be on your way to becoming an occupational therapist and what ever situation you desire. Whether that is in a school system, a group home, and the patient’s home or any of the other options that we have talked.
Let’s look at all of the top physical therapist assistant programs where you can learn how to be an occupational therapist. In this article you’ll learn all about the different ways you can become an physical therapist assistant.
And we are also going to talk about some of the best schools to attend if you are planning on getting a job as a physical therapy assistant. In order to become a physical therapist assistant, you are definitely going to need a degree/certificate from a physical therapy assisting accredited school. There are plenty of different schools that you can choose from, including online options.
Physical Therapy Assistant Degrees
There are different types of degrees that you can get when you are becoming a physical therapist assistant. For example, you can get an associate of science, associate of applied science, graduate certification in geriatric health, or associate of science in occupational therapy.
A physical therapist assistant is responsible for helping the actual physical therapist in day to day duties, including rehabilitating the patient, keeping track of things, managing patients, and make sure records are ready and on file. A physical therapist assistant is a very high paced job with tons a responsibility placed on your shoulders. Therefore, getting the best degree from the best school possible would definitely be in your best interest when becoming a physical therapist assistant.
Physical Therapy Assistant Program Locations
Grand Canyon University is an online University that is accredited for giving physical therapist assistant certificate. It is considered one of the top online universities, due to respect and reputation. Some of the classes and courses that you would be taking if you choose to do an online degree at Grand Canyon University are chemistry, genetics, kinesiology, physiology, math, medical athletics, physics, and many more. Without a doubt, Grand Canyon University is one of the top online universities you could possibly choose from, if you are planning on doing your physical therapist assistant certificate fully online. For some reason, this type of certificate is one of the more common ones to do online, probably because it allows you to work at the same time.
Sacramento city college is another place where you can get your physical therapist assistant program certificate. It is highly accredited and located in Sacramento, California. Your physical therapist assistant degree in as little as two or three years at Sacrament as the college.
Physical Therapy Assistant Salary
A physical therapist assistant can expect to earn anywhere from $40-$70,000, once they are in the workforce. The high end of that spectrum would be in special situations, or after multiple raises showing great work.
As you see, becoming a physical therapist assistant is no easy task, both the right education, training and certificate provided, you will have little to no trouble finding a career quickly as a physical therapist assistant. Follow one of these programs listed above, or do an Internet search for even more, and you will be surprised how quickly you could be helping patients rehabilitate themselves.
A physical therapy assistant job is quite the respected job in our society. After all, there is something noble about dedicating your life to helping others rehabilitate and improve theirs. That is exactly what a physical therapist does, and it is exactly what a physical therapy assistant does as well. Whether you are a true assistant to a physical therapist, or you are an aide, you are definitely going to be a huge part in the recovery of any patients in the office. We are going to take a look at some of the different types of physical therapy assistant jobs out there, where the markets are, and how much you could expect to be paid for such a job.
Physical Therapy Assistant Responsibilities
A physical therapy assistant has a multitude of responsibilities that he or she has to perform on a daily basis, in order to keep things moving very smoothly, with patients coming in and out so much. They also need to be the ones that are keeping everything organized for the physical therapist, so they can concentrate on the minute details and complex situations that require deep thinking and medical knowledge to solve. As a physical therapist assistant, you are going to definitely become very close to the patient’s on a one-to-one basis, helping them rehabilitate their injuries or bodies after disease, and being an integral part of their recovery process.
The salary expected for a physical therapy assistant is quite respectable, right off the bat. The median average salary taken from official stats,for a physical therapy assistant is roughly $55,000-$60,000 year. That is definitely among the high end for any type of assistant jobs out there. After working for a while, you could definitely be promoted to an administrative position in certain places have a much higher pay rate, and you could even get raises as time goes on up to $70,000 a year.
Physical Therapy Assistant Job Description
One type of physical therapy assistant job is going to be available and doctors offices. These are more small operations, and you will be working directly with physical therapist who has an office locally. Another common way you could be a physical therapy assistant is right inside a hospital wing that is dedicated to physical therapy. Typically many physical therapy assistants will be needed in any given hospital, so it is definitely a great source of jobs for this industry. Depending on your specialization, you could be promoted or given a career in a high-end, private hospital, that indeed can pay more of a high salary.
Another option for careers for physical therapy assistant or home care assistant. Sometimes, physical therapist work out of a person’s home because it is too difficult for them to get back and forth to an office or hospital. And those cases, a physical therapy assistant could spend a large amount of their working time in patients homes. This is actually a pretty common set up.
You can see that there are definitely lots of different options for you to pick up jobs and careers as a physical therapy assistant, and most of them pay roughly the same. Remember that the $55,000-$60,000 mark is the median, and you could definitely be lower or higher than that. Depending on your area, skills and experience.
If you want to become a physical therapist, then you are going to have to choose between one of the many physical therapy schools that offer credentials that you need in order to get this job. There are tons of physical therapy schools everywhere, with many of them being in Canada and the United States of America. Physical therapy schools are usually specialization schools that you go to after you have already got your bachelors degree. The type of your bachelors degree does not always matter, but it definitely helps you if it is closely related to physical therapy. Think sciences, kinesiology, etc.
A physical therapist is a well-paid and respected profession, that can earn upwards of $100,000 a year. The actual median for physical therapist salary is $75,000 a year.
Let us take a look at some of the top American physical therapy schools. In these schools, you can get a doctorate or a Masters degree in physical therapy. Each of these schools accredited is by the APTA, otherwise known as the American Physical Therapy Association.
List of Physical Therapy Schools
Alabama State University: Alabama State University is one of the top schools in America that offer a doctorate degree in physical therapy. You can attain this degree in as little as three years.
Arizona University: Arizona University is one of the top schools in the South West. Getting into the physical therapy school at Arizona University learning will earn you a doctorate upon successful completion of the program.
California State University: California State University is one of the top schools in all of California, and their doctorate degree in physical therapy is truly respected in the profession. Get a degree from here, and you will not be disappointed in the career options that you have.
Northern Illinois University: Northern Illinois University, one of the Midwest top school, is one of the top physical therapy schools turn a Masters program. The school does not offer a doctorate.
University of Florida: University of Florida is well-known and respected as one of the premier schools in the state of Florida. There physical therapy school is also ran out as one of the best, and they offer a doctorate program.
Conclusion
There are literally thousands of different physical therapy schools that you can attend to, but the first thing that you have to make sure is that they are indeed approved by the American physical therapy Association. Any school that is not accredited by the Association, is not going to be able to give you the same career path or jobs rated a school, that one of the respective schools would. The above schools that we have mentioned, are only a very small fraction of the top places to get a physical therapy doctorate or Masters. There are literally dozens and dozens of premier schools, where you can learn and train to become a physical therapist and start earning upwards of $70,000, right out of school.
The salary of a physical therapist will greatly depend on their experience, education and specializations. Typically those with an specialized therapist education get paid higher initial wages, and also make more money when they get a raise.
When we are looking at all of these different salary ranges for a physical therapist, keep in mind that they are indeed just medians taken from studies done. It does not mean that these are the numbers you will start off at, or even the numbers that you will Out at. Depending on where you live, it will have a huge impact on how much you actually get paid in your salary to be a physical therapist. Many people might even think that it is good to just move to a place where they will earn more for the same job.
Median Salary for Physical Therapist
Physical therapist in the USA, can expect there are roughly $75,000 per year. Now that is a median number, meaning you could find many lower and higher than this number. This number is taken from the certified compensation professional analysis survey. A physical therapist is an extremely important job, being that they help people out in rehabilitating their life, and get back to their old selves. A physical therapist can earn upwards to $100,000 a year, depending on their experience and skills. Many physical therapist will earn more than $100,000 a year, because they are specialize in a certain aspect of physical therapy, that happens to be in demand.
If you are indeed planning on being a physical therapist, that you would be certainly smart to decide in a specialization as well. It can mean the difference between $1 million over your entire lifetime.
Physical Therapist Responsibilities
So what does a physical therapist actually do? A physical therapist is somebody who is skilled in rehabilitating injuries or diseases and athletes, and regular people. Anybody who suffers injury, especially serious one, may need rehabilitation in order to get the joints and body parts working in full effect again. A physical therapist knows exactly how to work a body to get this done in the fastest amount of time. A physical therapist often has an aid or an assisted, or both helping him or her at all times. It is indeed a highly stressful job for some people, depending on the patient load and the type of patients that you get. It could also be a highly emotional job, especially if you get attached to your patients, or see people going through extremely rough times trying to rehabilitate their lives and bodies.
PT Salary Progression
As you can see, being a physical therapist can be extremely lucrative position because you start roughly at around $60-$75,000 per year, and can easily get all the way up to $100,000 a year or more with both experience and specialization. Do not ever stop continuing your education, if you are planning on being a physical therapist, because the more specialized your knowledge, the higher salary will be.
Let’s look at the expected salary of the physical therapy assistant. These numbers are based on an average of all physical therapy assistant who are actually licensed in the United States. Please keep in mind that many different things can affect these numbers, and they are just an average.
A physical therapy assistant can expect roughly $45,000-$50,000 as the median salary for this job. It is just the basic idea of how much they can make and that is an average. You could definitely start off by getting paid $45,000 per year, but it is much more likely that you are going to start at a lower salary than this. One of the best parts about being a physical therapist assistant is that it does offer many benefits that are going to save you a lot of money in the long run. Such benefits include vacation pay, dental, and health plans, all included with your salary. It definitely has its added benefits.
PT Assistant Salary Information Sources
The $45,000 median is a number that is taken from many different sources, such as a certified compensation professional analysis, which collects data from thousands of different salary ranges, sources, and cities to create a median. Starting off, you might be able to expect anywhere from $30-$35,000 per year, and that number to go up to $55-$60,000 a year, depending on your experience and further education in the field. If you have stellar experience, you could definitely get lots of raises and promotions, raising your salary.
Physical Therapy Assistant Salaries – Location
Pending on where you are located, a physical therapist assistant to get paid a lot more for a lot less. For instance, in a large city, and the United States, you could expect to earn a lot more than if you are in a rural town in Canada. It is simple supply and demand.
Physical Therapy Assistant Responsibilities
So what does a physical therapy assistant actually do. Basically, they assist a physical therapist. Of course, that is a pretty literal meaning, and what they do is help patients rehabilitate, and get better from injuries or diseases. This type of job requires you to have a bachelors degree, and a program such as physical therapy. You need to be very familiar with kinesiology, practices and standards for specific field in physical therapy. The more specialized your knowledge, the higher salary that you are going to expect.
Promotion to Become a Physical Therapist
As you can see, being a physical therapy assistant can be very lucrative. As you go on in time, you expect to earn upwards of $60,000 a year for salary, but that is only after many years of raises. Without a doubt, getting a promotion to a full physical therapist would be an ideal goal for any assistant to the physical therapist. In many cases, that promotion does happen after many years of training. The fact that you have to remember, though, is that a physical therapist, typically has much more education and training than a physical therapy assistant. That difference alone, will make up the difference and quite a large amount of salary, even though the responsibilities may be even in some offices.
Let us take a look at the profession called a physical therapy assistant. An assistant to a physical therapist will all sorts of tasks to do on a day-to-day basis, from paperwork to research, to helping patients hands on. This position is absolutely great for people who want to become physical therapists themselves, and are fresh out of school with a degree. It is much easier to get a job as a physical therapy assistant, or even internship with an established therapist in order to propel your career forward. Often students come out of school and try to become a physical therapist themselves right away, only to find that they can either not get the job or get no patients or business.
Physical Therapy Assistant Training
There is considerably less training needed to be an assistant to a physical therapist that you might think. Typically, all you need is a high school diploma because normally will have on the job training to get you prepared. Of course, if you are already studying to be a physical therapist then this is a perfect entry-level job to the industry. Many therapists will also let you be assistant part-time while you are still in your studies. That type of experience will prove an invaluable when you go for it yourself. What note to be made, is that most states in America require you to have an Associates degree in order to become an assistant. In some states, you also have to pass the national physical therapy exam.
Physical Therapy Aides
Just underneath the physical therapy assistant is a physical therapy aide, which does more menial tasks the assistant and has less responsibility. There are definitely options for advancement for anyone who is currently a physical therapy assistant. Not only could you specialize in something and get recognized by the American Physical Therapy Association, and get further high-paying work, but you could also advantage certain administrative positions. Such positions could include director of therapy department, managerial positions, teaching positions and more. Basically, a physical therapy assistant would definitely be respected in their position and have chances to move up in the career ladder. You are also doing a very much needed job in our society, helping people who have been injured or diseased and are trying to rehabilitate themselves to reenter society.
Physical Therapy Jobs
There are hundreds of thousands of physical therapist assistant jobs available in the United States alone, so it is definitely a position where you could potentially find work rather quickly. The more qualifications that you have, the better off you will be – and is also a great preparation for anyone who is looking to be a physical therapist themselves. Remember, that is not the only way to move up from his position – there are also countless administrative positions that could be done with previous work as a physical therapist assistant. As an assistant, you are definitely going to have a lot responsibility. So do not think that it is going to be an easy job by any means. If you are indeed interested in becoming a physical therapist assistant, now be a good time to get any additional training under your belt – the job market is looking to be growing very quickly due to the demand for physical therapy.
