Physical Therapists

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

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

Skills

• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• 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.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• 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.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.
• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• 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.
• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

Abilities

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

Knowledge

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• 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.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• 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.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• 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.
• 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.

Education

Education

Doctoral or professional degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

×

Education and Training Opportunities

• Eastern Washington University
  526 5th Street, Cheney WA 99004-2496
  School Type

  Public, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  10,000 - 19,999

  Financial Aid 509-359-6200
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  http://www.ewu.edu/
  Program Name
  Physical Therapy/Therapist
  Length
  More than 4 years
  Award Level
  Doctor's degree - professional practice
  Save

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• University of Puget Sound
  1500 N. Warner Street, Tacoma WA 98416
  School Type

  Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  1,000 - 4,999

  Financial Aid 253-879-3100
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  https://www.pugetsound.edu/
  Program Name
  Physical Therapy/Therapist
  Length
  More than 4 years
  Award Level
  Doctor's degree - professional practice
  Save

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• University of Washington-Seattle Campus
  1400 NE Campus Parkway, Seattle WA 98195-4550
  School Type

  Public, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  20,000 and above

  Financial Aid 206-543-2100
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  https://www.washington.edu/
  Program Name
  Physical Therapy/Therapist
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree, Doctor's degree - other, Doctor's degree - research/scholarship
  Save

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• Whitworth University
  300 W Hawthorne Rd, Spokane WA 99251
  School Type

  Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  1,000 - 4,999

  Financial Aid 509-777-1000
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  http://www.whitworth.edu/
  Program Name
  Physical Therapy/Therapist
  Length
  More than 4 years
  Award Level
  Doctor's degree - professional practice
  Save

  ---

Close

Pay

Washington Annual Salary

102140/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

49.11/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

9,040

Yearly Projected Openings

710

Personality

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

Tools

• 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

Technology

• 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