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Physical Therapists

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and improve or correct disabling conditions resulting from disease or injury.

Related: Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses Clinical Nurse Specialists Emergency Medicine Physicians Occupational Therapists Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Physicians

Industries: Health & Counseling

Summary
Details

Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention.
Direct group rehabilitation activities.
Provide educational information about physical therapy or physical therapists, injury prevention, ergonomics, or ways to promote health.
Instruct patient and family in treatment procedures to be continued at home.
Administer treatment involving application of physical agents, using equipment, moist packs, ultraviolet or infrared lamps, or ultrasound machines.
Teach physical therapy students or those in other health professions.
Plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients.
Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient's chart or enter information into computer.
Confer with the patient, medical practitioners, or appropriate others to plan, implement, or assess the intervention program.
Administer manual exercises, massage, or traction to help relieve pain, increase patient strength, or decrease or prevent deformity or crippling.
Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention.
Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention.
Test and measure patient's strength, motor development and function, sensory perception, functional capacity, or respiratory or circulatory efficiency and record data.
Discharge patient from physical therapy when goals or projected outcomes have been attained and provide for appropriate follow-up care or referrals.
Evaluate effects of treatment at various stages and adjust treatments to achieve maximum benefit.
Review physician's referral and patient's medical records to help determine diagnosis and physical therapy treatment required.
Identify and document goals, anticipated progress, and plans for reevaluation.
Test and measure patient's strength, motor development and function, sensory perception, functional capacity, or respiratory or circulatory efficiency and record data.
Conduct or support research and apply research findings to practice.
Participate in community or community agency activities or help to formulate public policy.
Evaluate effects of treatment at various stages and adjust treatments to achieve maximum benefit.
Refer clients to community resources or services.
Evaluate, fit, or adjust prosthetic or orthotic devices or recommend modification to orthotist.
Inform patients and refer to appropriate practitioners when diagnosis reveals findings outside physical therapy.
Construct, maintain, or repair medical supportive devices.
Participate in community or community agency activities or help to formulate public policy.
Provide information to the patient about the proposed intervention, its material risks and expected benefits, and any reasonable alternatives.
Inform patients and refer to appropriate practitioners when diagnosis reveals findings outside physical therapy.
Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient's chart or enter information into computer.
Obtain patients' informed consent to proposed interventions.
Test and measure patient's strength, motor development and function, sensory perception, functional capacity, or respiratory or circulatory efficiency and record data.
Direct, supervise, assess, and communicate with supportive personnel.
Identify and document goals, anticipated progress, and plans for reevaluation.
Administer treatment involving application of physical agents, using equipment, moist packs, ultraviolet or infrared lamps, or ultrasound machines.
Discharge patient from physical therapy when goals or projected outcomes have been attained and provide for appropriate follow-up care or referrals.
Evaluate, fit, or adjust prosthetic or orthotic devices or recommend modification to orthotist.

Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Education

Doctoral or professional degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

102140/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

49.11/hr

Currently Employed

9,040

Yearly Projected Openings

710

Social: People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking. They do well at jobs that need:

Concern for Others
Integrity
Dependability
Social Orientation
Cooperation
Self Control

Back or lumbar or sacral orthopedic softgoods
Balance beams or boards or bolsters or rockers for rehabilitation or therapy
Biofeedback devices
Blood pressure cuff kits
Canes
Cardiac output CO monitoring units
Cervical collars or neck braces
Cognitive or dexterity or perceptual or sensory evaluation or testing products
Continuous passive motion CPM devices
Crutches
Diathermy units
Digital camcorders or video cameras
Digital cameras
Dynamometers
Electric vibrators for rehabilitation or therapy
Electromyography EMG units
Electronic blood pressure units
Electrotherapy combination units
Exercise trampolines
Extremity hydrotherapy baths or tanks
Force or torque sensors
Full body immersion hydrotherapy baths or tanks
Gait belts for rehabilitation or therapy
Galvanic or faradic stimulators
Goniometers or arthrometers
Grip strengthener
Infrared lamps
Knee therapeutic brace or support
Laser printers
Lower body resistance machines
Lower extremity prosthetic devices
Mats or platforms for rehabilitation or therapy
Medical acoustic stethoscopes
Medical hydrocollators
Neuromuscular stimulators or kits
Notebook computers
Ophthalmoscopes or otoscopes or scope sets
Orthopedic traction hardware or weights
Orthopedic traction softgoods for general use
Orthotics or foot care products
Parallel bars for rehabilitation or therapy
Patient care beds for general use
Patient care beds for specialty care
Patient lifts
Patient shifting boards
Pedal exercisers for rehabilitation or therapy
Pelvis or back traction supplies
Personal computers
Pivotal traction therapy supplies
Powder boards for rehabilitation or therapy
Pulleys for rehabilitation or therapy
Reachers for the physically challenged
Reflex hammers or mallets
Resistive exercise bands or putty or tubing for rehabilitation or therapy
Rowing machines
Stair climbers
Therapeutic balls
Therapeutic cryo compression therapy systems
Therapeutic heating or cooling pads or compresses or packs
Therapeutic paraffin baths
Training stairs for rehabilitation or therapy
Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation units
Treadmill exercisers for rehabilitation or therapy
Ultrasonic therapy apparatus or supplies
Ultraviolet UV lamps
Upper body resistance machines
Upper extremity prosthetic devices
Vascular or compression apparel or support
Vestibular motion devices for rehabilitation or therapy
Walkers or rollators
Walking braces
Weight machines for rehabilitation or therapy
Weights or sets for rehabilitation or therapy
Wheelchairs
Work table or station for rehabilitation or therapy
Wrist exercisers for rehabilitation or therapy

Accounting software
Action games
Analytical or scientific software
Calendar and scheduling software
Electronic mail software
Medical software
Office suite software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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