Physical Therapy Assistant Salary Info
Physical Therapy Assistant Salary: A physical therapy assistant assists physical therapist in performing daily activities. They work under the guidance of the physical therapist.
They perform various duties. They might perform specific task or do multitasking depending upon where they are working.
Their duties include helping patients for doing specific exercises and motivating them to do the exercises, guiding patients on how to use different devices such as walkers, educating patients and their relatives about what to do after treatments, reporting patient’s progress to the physical therapist, preparing patient and equipment for treatments, assisting in carrying out various treatment procedures and supervision of patients.
There are different methods used in physiotherapy such as message, aquatic methods, and electrical treatments in order to treat patients and the physiotherapy assistants must have the adequate knowledge of how to follow this method.
Physical Therapy Assistant Salary is very good. They also do administrative work such as taking patient’s history, keeping record of patients’ progress, fixing appointments, managing office supplies and ordering whenever needed, keeping equipment in order, preparing reports and sending it to physiotherapy manger etc.
Physical assistants are also known as physical technicians, physiotherapy receptionist, or physiotherapy associate. They usually work in a hospital, physical fitness centre, public health centre etc.
The Pros and Cons of a Physical Therapy Assistant Career
Physical therapy assistants are quite in demand. There are pros and cons of the career in the job of physical therapy assistant. It doesn’t require high qualification and in comparison to the qualification, you earn good salary.
The job is available at most of the locations and you can work at the place of your liking. There is job security in this career.
You have to work with different types of patients and it might be sometimes stressful to deal with difficult patients. You also need to be physical strong as you have assisted the patients in doing exercises.
You sometimes need to work in the evening or even at the weekends. It is likely that you might catch some infectious diseases.
Requirements
Usually, you should have an associate degree to work as physical therapy assistant. Physical therapy programs include classroom training, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training and clinical experiences.
You also have to get a license to work a physical therapy assistant and to get the license you need to pass the National Physical Therapy Exam.
The requirements vary according to the states and in some of the states; you need to pass and additional state-administered exam.
As you are helping patients recovering from injuries or illnesses, you need to develop certain qualities and skills such as compassion, patience, physical strength and dexterity. You also have to provide emotional support to the patient.
As you have to take patients’ details and keep their progress, you should have detail-oriented nature. You also need to have good communication skill and should be able to maintain relations.
Physical Therapy Assistant Salary Information and Career Outlook
Physiotherapy assistants make good earning. According to the BLS reports, it is projected that the need for the physical therapy assistant will spur by 46% by the year 2020 due to the increase of the aging baby-boom generation.
The median income of a physical is $51,000 with the top 10% earning up to $70,000 whereas the lower 10% make about $35,000. It is much faster-than-average job growth and physical therapy assistants will have plentiful employment opportunities in the near future.
Standing Out in the Field
To get an edge in the physical therapy assistant’s field, you have to keep yourself up to date with the latest developments in the therapeutic methods, new techniques and devices.
You can read related articles, attend some seminars and enhance your professional qualifications. To set yourself apart and to be ahead of others as a prospective physical therapy assistants, you can need to continue education.
You can also specialize in specific method such as aquatic therapy; electric methods etc. that will help you get god opportunity.
As you have to help patients preparing equipment and transporting patients, it takes a physical toll on you and you need to keep yourself physically fit and in good shape, it will give you an extra edge to your career as potential employers will find you more suitable to the job.
If you have a bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy, it is an added advantage. You also need to have excellent academic credentials. Experience in the field of physical therapy is always counts and helps you getting better opportunities.
If you like to work as a healthcare professional and if you are physically strong as well as have caring and compassionate nature, you can consider a choice of career as a physical therapy assistant.
You will earn well and you also get satisfaction in a job as you are helping people with improving their health. Read more articles on jio university.