Physical Therapy

Physical therapy is a career that will always be needed throughout society; it helps the human body rebuild physical function in people that have been injured, have birth defects, or any other reasons. Physical therapy is one the medical specialties doctors reply on. There are certain education requirements to become one, just like many other careers. It is a career that an individual who enjoys helping people and working in the medical field would be perfect for. The job of physical therapy and physical therapy assistants is an important factor to a lot of people. It is a job that will always be needed; there will always be people that need help regaining their physical health to be able to walk again or maybe just be able to move their thumb

Many athletes have to use the services of a physical therapist sometime throughout their career. However physical therapists do not only work with athletes; they also work with individuals that have been in car accidents or individuals that have a birth defect. Physical therapists have to run tests when a patient first comes in to make sure exactly where and what the injury specifically is. The job for physical therapy assistants is a little different. “Physical therapy assistants work directly under the supervision of physical therapists” (Physical 1). They do not have as much responsibility as a physical therapist, but they are still very important in the field. Every doctor needs an assistant to help him or her, and that is moderately what the physical therapy assistant job is for. Also to be apart of the physical therapy field, an individual needs a positive attitude because they will be around several patients everyday of their career. Additionally “compassion and empathy are also traits that will help the individual to excel in his or her career” and affect how their patients feel on their visits (Field

For example an individual could just be a foot physical therapist and just take patients that need help regaining physical ability in their foot. Also there are physical therapists that just work with a certain type of age group. “Geriatric physical therapists, for instance, work with the elderly,” says Hayhurst (Hayhurst 1). And pediatric physical therapists only work with children. Another type of physical therapy is a neurologic physical therapist that specializes in the nervous system. They would help people regain health from a brain injury, spinal cord injury, or a stroke. However the most common type of physical therapy is an orthopedic physical therapist. These types of physical therapists usually work in a hospital on patients that just get out of surgery and need help regaining that muscle back, or patients that visit a clinic on a daily or weekly basis. This type of therapy mainly focuses on the musculoskeletal system, including joints, tendons and bones. The physical therapy field has many options and opportunities for an individual looking for a specialized career