Physical Therapy Settings

The list of programs at PTCAS includes requirements for each programs.

APTA

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Becoming a PT

Physical therapists help people live healthy and active lives. And the outlook for a career as a PT is strong: U.S. News & World Report listed physical therapist as the #3 “best job” in health care and #6 overall, based on number and percentage of projected openings from 2021 to 2031 as determined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Are you ready to be a PT?

What Physical Therapists Do

Physical therapists are movement experts who improve quality of life through prescribed exercise, hands-on care, and patient education.

Physical therapists diagnose and treat individuals of all ages, from newborns to people at the end of life. Many patients have injuries, disabilities, or other health conditions that need treatment. But PTs also care for people who simply want to become healthier and to prevent future problems.

Physical therapists examine each person and then develops a treatment plan to improve their ability to move, reduce or manage pain, restore function, and prevent disability.

Physical therapists can have a profound effect on people’s lives. They help people achieve fitness goals, regain or maintain their independence, and lead active lives.

Visit ChoosePT.com, APTA’s official consumer information website, to learn more about the benefits of physical therapy.

Where Physical Therapists Work

Physical therapists practice in a wide range of settings, including hospitals, outpatient clinics, people’s homes, schools, sports and fitness facilities, workplaces, and nursing homes.

How Much Physical Therapists Earn

The median salary for a physical therapist is $85,000. Salaries vary based on position, years of experience, degree of education, geographic location, and practice setting.

Demand for physical therapists varies by geographical region and area of practice, but PT unemployment rates are typically low across the country. The need for physical therapists is expected to remain strong as the United States population ages and the demand for physical therapist services grows.

Physical Therapist Education and Licensure

To practice as a physical therapist in the U.S., you must earn a doctor of physical therapy degree from a Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education-accredited physical therapist education program and pass a state licensure exam.

The length of professional DPT programs is typically three years. Primary content areas in the curriculum may include, but are not limited to, biology/anatomy, cellular histology, physiology, exercise physiology, biomechanics, kinesiology, neuroscience, pharmacology, pathology, behavioral sciences, communication, ethics/values, management sciences, finance, sociology, clinical reasoning, evidence-based practice, cardiovascular and pulmonary, endocrine and metabolic, and musculoskeletal.

Approximately 80% of the DPT curriculum is classroom (didactic) and lab study and the remaining 20% is dedicated to clinical education. PT students spend on average 27.5 weeks in their final clinical experience.

If you are an internationally educated PT or PTA, please read more information on internationally educated PTs and PTAs.

Getting Into a DPT Program

Most DPT programs require applicants to earn a bachelor’s degree prior to admission. Other programs offer a 3+3 curricular format in which three years of specific preprofessional (undergraduate/pre-PT) courses must be taken before the student can advance into a three-year professional DPT program.

A few programs offer freshman entry, recruiting students directly from high school into a guaranteed admissions program. High school students accepted into these programs can automatically advance into the professional phase of the DPT program, pending the completion of specific undergraduate courses and any other stated contingencies, e.g., minimum GPA.

The list of programs at PTCAS includes requirements for each programs.

Choosing the Right Program

APTA does not rank DPT education programs. Programs are accredited by CAPTE, which assures quality in physical therapist education. Among the factors you should keep in mind when choosing your program:

• Cost and financial aid opportunities.Most DPT students graduate with student loans. Make sure you are financially aware and prepared. Programs offer different student experiences and have different costs.
• Program length. The traditional DPT program is three years, but some programs compress academic requirements into a shorter time span, which could help you manage the total cost of your education experience and enter the field faster.
• Demographics and setting. You will be investing a lot into your physical therapy education. Make sure that you select a program where you feel at home.

You may wish to contact current students and recent graduates of the program, or interview employers who hire new graduates, to ask about a program’s strengths and weaknesses.

Admissions

The Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service allows applicants to use a single web-based application and one set of materials to apply to multiple DPT programs.

After Graduation

Licensed physical therapists may choose to pursue a residency or fellowship program to enhance their knowledge and practice.

A clinical residency is designed to advance a physical therapist’s preparation as a provider of patient care services in a defined area of clinical practice. It combines opportunities for ongoing clinical supervision and mentoring with a theoretical basis for advanced practice and scientific inquiry.

A clinical fellowship is a planned program of postprofessional clinical and didactic education for a physical therapist who demonstrates clinical expertise in an area of clinical practice related to the practice focus of the fellowship. (Fellows are frequently postresidency prepared or board-certified clinical specialists.)

Physical therapists also have the opportunity to become board-certified clinical specialists through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. Specialization is the process by which a physical therapist builds on a broad base of professional education and practice to develop a greater depth of knowledge and skills related to a particular area of practice. PTs are not required to be certified in order to practice in a specific area.

5 Physical Therapy Settings to Explore Before Applying to PT School

When you’re planning to apply to physical therapy school, you may or may not have an idea of what you’d like to do once you actually become a PT. Sure, there are plenty of articles out there reminding you of what a great profession physical therapy is, and they’re mostly right! But the majority of the media paints the same picture of what a physical therapist is: a smiling, perky young lad or lady, absently stretching a faceless leg.

The reality is that the physical therapy profession is so much more than stretching people’s legs in a generic outpatient orthopedic setting. (Outpatient ortho is what those pictures represent, by the way, but the pics don’t come close to representing the actual excitement of clinic life). A PT can help to improve the functions—and the lives—of everyone from children with developmental disabilities to active older adults. Physical therapists work in schools, adult day care facilities, gyms, and nursing homes, and they treat people with everything from sprained ankles to acute heart conditions.

There’s an enormous variety of practice settings and populations out there, and it’s essential to expose yourself to as many as possible before you apply to school. Not only will you have a better understanding of the clinical settings in which you might practice one day, you’ll have an easier time candidly discussing the PT profession in your school applications, as well as during your interviews. Plus, even if you do want to spend your entire career working with athletes in a gym setting, you’ll be required to work as a student physical therapist in a variety of settings throughout your education. And you might find that the only jobs available in your area are in a hospital, rather than a gym. It’s much better to know what’s out there and enter school with wide-eyed anticipation than to head into school laser-focused on a single setting that may or may not turn out to be what you hope.

Here are 5 settings to explore before applying to PT school:

Skilled Nursing

Also known as a nursing home or a long-term care facility, a skilled nursing facility (SNF) is a building (or group of buildings) with round-the-clock nursing care, as well as rehabilitation services. SNFs are where physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists can find some of the highest-paying and most in-demand, jobs.

SNFs house patients who are unable to care for themselves for both the short-term and the long-term. PTs who work in SNFs will evaluate and assess these patients, determining whether their functional mobility levels have declined from their baseline levels. If the patients are deemed below their functional baseline, the PTs will work with them to improve their sitting, standing, and walking abilities.

People considering the physical therapy field should definitely spend some time shadowing the rehabilitation team in SNFs if at all possible. Not only are a large percentage of PT jobs located in these facilities, the type of work can be on the physically and emotionally demanding side, so it’s good to shadow as much as possible before investing in the expense of a PT doctorate (DPT).

Acute Care

Acute care is a fancy way of saying “the hospital,” and PTs who work in acute care tend to see all sorts of illnesses and injuries, from a debilitating case of pneumonia that leaves a patient too weak to get out of bed, to a traumatic accident that leaves a patient without a limb. This setting is exciting and collaborative, and by shadowing in acute care, you’ll get to witness PTs working alongside physicians, nurses, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, respiratory therapists, and other medical professionals. Acute care PTs tend to see patients for only a few days at a time, which is unlike most other practice settings, where patients might be seen for many days or weeks—or even months—on end. Most acute care facilities make students go through a battery of tests in order to hit the floor as volunteers, so be prepared for a TB test, drug screen, and more.

Acute care is a wonderful setting to explore before applying to PT school, as many roles that are open to new graduates are in these facilities.

Inpatient Rehabilitation

Some PTs assert that inpatient rehabilitation is the purest form of physical therapy there is, because patients typically make enormous functional gains in a brief, intensive time period. Most patients spend 2-3 weeks in inpatient rehab, and they’re seen by multiple therapy disciplines.

Inpatient rehab patients have often suffered strokes, traumatic brain injuries, or serious accidents that have impaired their ability to walk, dress themselves, feed themselves, and (sometimes) even speak. The inpatient rehab setting can be very taxing for PTs, and by shadowing therapists in this setting, you’ll get a better understanding of the type of physical and emotional demands your job as a therapist will entail. As with acute care, you’ll likely need a TB test and physical before you’re able to shadow in this setting.

Outpatient Orthopedics

If you like solving problems and working with an active population, you’ll probably love outpatient orthopedics. There are many differences within outpatient ortho, though. Some clinics largely treat active older adults, while others specialize in working with athletes, teens, or even primarily post-operative patient loads.

As a potential PT student, it’s a good idea to shadow in several outpatient ortho settings. Some are extremely fast-paced, and therapists will see as many as 30 plus patients in a single day. This can be physically and mentally taxing. Other clinics are more mellow, and you may see 8-10 patients in a day.

If you’re considering becoming a PT to work with an ortho population, definitely spend a lot of time in multiple outpatient settings, as just shadowing in one or two will not provide representation of the myriad of company cultures and patient populations you’ll find from clinic to clinic.

Home Health

Home health physical therapy is an extremely unique and rewarding setting, and therapists enjoy quite a bit of flexibility and autonomy in this setting. Home health PTs visit patients in their homes and provide extremely functional treatments that utilize patients’ own furniture and equipment. PTs working in this setting also make home safety recommendations, perform caregiver education, and provide training on everything from equipment transfers to conserving energy while cooking or performing hygiene.

Aspiring PTs benefit from exploring this setting; it is growing rapidly as efforts increase to keep the population aging safely at home. Quite a few of the jobs available to physical therapists are anticipated to be in this setting. It can be a bit isolating, though; you’ll spend a good amount of time on the road as a home health PT, and unless you’re provided with a company car (which is rare), you’ll put quite a few miles on your car.

There are plenty of other settings we haven’t covered, including outpatient and inpatient pediatrics, schools, burn units, intensive care units, mobile outpatient therapy (sometimes called “outpatient on wheels”), adult day care, and more. But by spending some time in the primary five settings mentioned above, you’ll get a sampling of the settings where you’ll find the most—and the highest paying—jobs available to a newly minted physical therapist.

Meredith Castin, PT, DPT is a physical therapist and co-founder of The Non-Clinical PT, a resource designed to help clinicians leverage their rehab degrees in creative ways. She enjoys writing, snowboarding, rock climbing, recording music, and spending time with her husband and three cats.