What do I do to Become a Physical Therapist?: Tips to Get a Successful, High-Paying Job Right Out of School

There are many different careers in the medical field. Almost every type of care has specialists that can help a patient during every part of the healing process. One type of physician that is especially important after a major injury or surgical procedure is a physical therapist.

A physical therapist is a health professional that specializes in assessing and treating patients to develop, maintain and restore a full movement and function to parts of the body throughout the patient’s life. These treatments can include, but are not limited to problems associated with aging, disease, injury and environmental factors.

If someone is interested in becoming a physical therapist they have a long road ahead of them. It is not easy to become a health professional in the United States but the long journey is well worth the hard work that is required.

The first step after a high school education is earning a masters degree. All doctors in this country have to have a bachelor’s degree before continuing their education, including physical therapists. The majority of people interested in pursuing physical therapy as a career choose undergraduate majors in the sciences. These include majors that deal with chemistry, biology, physics and health sciences. If you have an early interest in the physical therapy field you can start taking these classes as early as high school. Medical programs such as physical therapy can be highly competitive so a student should try to keep their grade point average as high as possible, while being involved in other things like community service, leadership and research.

After earning a bachelor’s degree a future physical therapist will have to attend one of the 211 accredited physical therapy programs that are available in the United States. These schools offer a doctoral level of education graduating students with a Doctor of Physical Therapy Degree (DPT). Upon graduation the student will need to pass a licensure exam and with a passing score will be able to legally practice physical therapy.

When the now graduated physical therapist is done with schooling there is opportunity for further specialization. There are six common specialties in physical therapy, they are: cardiopulmonary, geriatric, neurological, orthopedic, pediatric, and integumentary.

It is not easy to become a physical therapist. Because of all the schooling and hard work, many people are discouraged and give up. With persistence and hard work you will be able to become a physical therapist and help people heal throughout their lives.