There were just a few questions I wanted to ask before making my final desicion.
-How many years of school am I looking at?
-What kind of jobs are there for physical therapists (I can only think of a few)?
-What is the typical salary for a physical thearpist?
Thinking of changing my major to Pre-Physical Therapy?
In the US, it now requires either a master's or doctorate level education. This typically takes 6-7 years to complete.
In 2005, most physical therapists were earning between $50-70,000 a year...yet another 25% earned more than that.
A physical therapist's job is usually directly as a PT. Work settings include hospitals, private clinics, home health, rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes, schools, etc.
Sometimes PTs take non-clinical jobs such as a manager, a care manager (coordinates benefits), a medical reviewer, medicare compliance officer, etc. Yet, they nearly all have spent at least some time in the clinic.
Thinking of changing my major to Pre-Physical Therapy?
MC Ren,
I think it only takes a bachelor's degree to become a PT. When you're done, you can then walk on to a job anywhere you want with a great salary. The physical therapy profession has such a great long term plan now, you may even have more autonomy as a treater in the near future.
There are 3 tier's of education. BS in Physical therapy which is 2 years of undergrad and 2yrs in PT department at your college. Masters in PT is an additional 2 yrs in graduate school although if you enter the Doctorate program for PT, it's 3yrs so you may want to consider the doctorate instead of masters if you plan to go to grad school.
Jobs... commonly seen either in a hospital, in a PT clinic, or chiropractic clinic. You also have the option of opening your own PT clinic.
Salary varies depends on where you work and level of education. In NYC, they typically get paid around $70-80k/yr.
