Physical Therapist Jobs
Training and Education Jobs and Salaries
Physical therapists hold about 175,000 jobs. The number of jobs is greater than the number of practicing physical therapists because some physical therapists hold two or more jobs. For example, some may work in a private practice, but also work part time in another health care facility. About six out of ten physical therapists work in hospitals or in offices of physical therapists. Other jobs are in the home health care services industry, nursing care facilities, outpatient care centers, and offices of physicians. Some physical therapists are self-employed in private practices, seeing individual patients and contracting to provide services in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, nursing care facilities, home health care agencies, adult day care programs, and schools. Physical therapists also teach in academic institutions and conduct research.
Employment of physical therapists is expected to grow much faster than average. Job opportunities will be good, especially in acute hospital, rehabilitation, and orthopedic settings. Employment of physical therapists is expected to grow 27 percent from 2006 to 2016, much faster than the average for all occupations. The impact of proposed Federal legislation imposing limits on reimbursement for therapy services may adversely affect the short-term job outlook for physical therapists however, the long-run demand for physical therapists should continue to rise as new treatments and techniques expand the scope of physical therapy practices. Moreover, demand will be spurred by the increasing numbers of individuals with disabilities or limited function.
The increasing elderly population will drive growth in the demand for physical therapy services. The elderly population is particularly vulnerable to chronic and debilitating conditions that require therapeutic services. Also, the baby-boom generation is entering the prime age for heart attacks and strokes, increasing the demand for cardiac and physical rehabilitation. And increasing numbers of children will need physical therapy as technological advances save the lives of a larger proportion of newborns with severe birth defects.
Future medical developments also should permit a higher percentage of trauma victims to survive, creating additional demand for rehabilitative care. In addition, growth may result from advances in medical technology that could permit the treatment of an increasing number of disabling conditions that were untreatable in the past. Widespread interest in health promotion also should increase demand for physical therapy services.
A growing number of employers are using physical therapists to evaluate worksites, develop exercise programs, and teach safe work habits to employees.Job opportunities will be good for licensed physical therapists in all settings. Job opportunities should be particularly good in acute hospital, rehabilitation, and orthopedic settings, where the elderly are most often treated. Physical therapists with specialized knowledge of particular types of treatment also will have excellent job prospects.
Physical therapists rehabilitate people with physical disabilities. Others who work in the rehabilitation field include audiologists, chiropractors, occupational therapists, recreational therapists, rehabilitation counselors, respiratory therapists, and speech-language pathologists. Median annual earnings of physical therapists are about $66,000. The middle fifty percent earn between $55,000 and $78,000. The lowest ten percent earn less than $46,500, and the highest ten percent earn more than $95,000. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of physical therapists are as follows: home health care services pay around $71,000, nursing care facilities pay about $68,500, general medical and surgical hospitals offer around $66,500, offices of physicians pay around $66,000 while jobs in offices of physical, occupational and speech therapists, and audiologists pay about $65,000.