{"id":9429,"date":"2021-08-17T11:48:09","date_gmt":"2021-08-17T11:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/?p=9429"},"modified":"2021-08-17T11:48:09","modified_gmt":"2021-08-17T11:48:09","slug":"what-does-a-physical-therapist-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/","title":{"rendered":"What does a physical therapist do?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_45_1 counter-flat ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" area-label=\"ez-toc-toggle-icon-1\"><label for=\"item-69f1cded6960d\" aria-label=\"Table of Content\"><span style=\"display: flex;align-items: center;width: 35px;height: 30px;justify-content: center;direction:ltr;\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/label><input  type=\"checkbox\" id=\"item-69f1cded6960d\"><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/#What_are_the_duties_of_a_physical_therapist\" title=\"What are the duties of a physical therapist?\">What are the duties of a physical therapist?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/#How_to_hire_a_physical_therapist\" title=\"How to hire a physical therapist?\">How to hire a physical therapist?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/#Qualifications\" title=\"Qualifications\">Qualifications<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/#Career_opportunities\" title=\"Career opportunities\u00a0\">Career opportunities\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/#How_much_does_a_physical_therapist_make\" title=\"How much does a physical therapist make?\">How much does a physical therapist make?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/#Conclusion\" title=\"Conclusion\">Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Physical therapists are trained health care professionals who collaborate with medical doctors to aid the full recovery of patients suffering from chronic health injuries that affect mobility. Also, they attend to patients across different age groups with musculoskeletal, cardiac or neurological injuries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_duties_of_a_physical_therapist\"><\/span><strong>What are the duties of a physical therapist?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Physical therapists work in a variety of health facilities such as hospitals, rehabilitation centers, sports centers, nursing homes or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/ensuring-reproducibility-in-ai-driven-research-how-freelance-experts-can-help-in-biotech-and-healthcare\/\">research<\/a> institutions. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They get client referrals from physicians or surgeons or directly at the health facility where they work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They execute their <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/a-to-z-guides\/what-is-a-physical-therapist\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">duties<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> often with their hands or use methods like exercise stretches, infra-red or ice to initiate the healing process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their duties entail:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Clinical diagnosis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Reviewing a physician\u2019s report if a client was referred. This helps to identify any underlying medical conditions and to understand what the patient needs. They carry out physical examinations to determine the injury level and make their own physical diagnosis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Treatment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Initiating a treatment plan based on the physical diagnosis. A treatment goal is set and they calculate the number of therapeutic sessions the client must go through to achieve the goal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therapeutic sessions may involve using hands for joint exercises, use of electric muscle stimulators, exercise balls or ultrasound.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Counseling<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Educating and counselling patients on lifestyle adjustments and how to stay fit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Monitoring<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: They track and keep a record of how a patient responds to therapy. This helps to decide whether to elongate the therapeutic sessions or not.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_hire_a_physical_therapist\"><\/span><strong>How to hire a physical therapist?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hiring a PT may be difficult when you need a few physical therapy sessions. Some professionals\u00a0 work part-time and set their availability hours and a fee per hour. This helps private individual clients to set their budgets and schedule appointments in advance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are 2 effective ways to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.betterteam.com\/how-to-hire-physical-therapists\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hire a physical therapist<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Write and post your job description on a job listing website: Write a job description that states the therapist type you want to hire and set application requirements like only licensed physical therapists can apply. Then post this job post on free job listing websites like Indeed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask for referrals: Ask friends and colleagues if they know and can refer a qualified physical therapist to you.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Qualifications\"><\/span><strong>Qualifications<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Physical therapists earn a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usa.edu\/blog\/physical-therapy-job-description\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">doctor of physical therapy degree <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(D.P.T.) from an accredited program. However, they require a bachelor\u2019s degree in a science-related field to gain admission into a D.P.T. program. The doctor of physical therapy programs takes 3 years to complete. Students take hours of courses across basic medical science subjects like anatomy, physiology, kinesiology etc.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Career_opportunities\"><\/span><strong>Career opportunities\u00a0<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PT&#8217;s may choose to sub-specialize in a specific therapeutic area and undergo advanced training. They enroll in clinical residency training programs for physical therapists who are passionate about a clinical subspecialty. Here are some areas of specialization:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Orthopedic physical therapists<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: These individuals are specially trained to handle only musculoskeletal injury-related cases.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Neurological physical therapists<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: They care for individuals with neurological conditions associated with a physical disability such as Parkinson&#8217;s;s disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Pediatric physical therapists<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are those licensed to handle physical movement disabilities in children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Geriatric physical therapists <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">focus on physical injuries that affect only elderly people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0The United States of America Bureau of Labour and Statistics projects that the demand for these therapists will increase by 18% between 2019 to 2029.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their services are essential as the cases of movement disorders continue to rise due to the high rate of cardiovascular diseases.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_much_does_a_physical_therapist_make\"><\/span><strong>How much does a physical therapist make?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The average physical therapist earns <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/ooh\/healthcare\/physical-therapists.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$91,000 <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">per annum. Although, this may depend on factors such as type of employer, skills and experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Physical therapists are licensed medical practitioners who collaborate with medical doctors to aid the full recovery of patients who suffer movement disorders. They use their hands to carry out multiple exercises on their clients and medical devices to facilitate the recovery process. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Individuals interested in becoming physical therapists need to earn a doctor of physical therapy degree from a college.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/find-an-expert\/subject\/physical-therapy\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=post&amp;utm_campaign=PT\">Freelance physical therapy researchers<\/a> can be hired to write articles on specific topics or create educational content on specific treatments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Physical therapists are trained health care professionals who collaborate with medical doctors to aid the full recovery of patients suffering from chronic health injuries that affect mobility. Also, they attend to patients across different age groups with musculoskeletal, cardiac or neurological injuries.\u00a0 What are the duties of a physical therapist? Physical therapists work in a<\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/\" title=\"Read More\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":9431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[540],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.1 (Yoast SEO v20.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What does a physical therapist do?\u00a0 - The Kolabtree Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What does a physical therapist do? What areas do they specialize in? How much do they earn? Read on to understand the role of PT&#039;s.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What does a physical therapist do?\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What does a physical therapist do? What areas do they specialize in? How much do they earn? Read on to understand the role of PT&#039;s.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Kolabtree Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kolabtree\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-17T11:48:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/instructor-assisting-senior-woman-exercising.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ramya Sriram\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@kolabtree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@kolabtree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ramya Sriram\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What does a physical therapist do?\u00a0 - The Kolabtree Blog","description":"What does a physical therapist do? What areas do they specialize in? How much do they earn? Read on to understand the role of PT's.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What does a physical therapist do?\u00a0","og_description":"What does a physical therapist do? What areas do they specialize in? How much do they earn? Read on to understand the role of PT's.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/","og_site_name":"The Kolabtree Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kolabtree","article_published_time":"2021-08-17T11:48:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/instructor-assisting-senior-woman-exercising.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ramya Sriram","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@kolabtree","twitter_site":"@kolabtree","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ramya Sriram","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/es\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/es\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/"},"author":{"name":"Ramya Sriram","@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/81992f5863a1b06d132a47822e7b4400"},"headline":"What does a physical therapist do?\u00a0","datePublished":"2021-08-17T11:48:09+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-17T11:48:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/es\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/"},"wordCount":686,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Medical Devices"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/es\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/es\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/es\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/","name":"What does a physical therapist do?\u00a0 - The Kolabtree Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-08-17T11:48:09+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-17T11:48:09+00:00","description":"What does a physical therapist do? What areas do they specialize in? How much do they earn? Read on to understand the role of PT's.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/es\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/es\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/es\/what-does-a-physical-therapist-do\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What does a physical therapist do?\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/","name":"The Kolabtree Blog","description":"Expert Views on Science, Innovation and Product Development","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Kolabtree","url":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"Kolabtree"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kolabtree","https:\/\/twitter.com\/kolabtree","https:\/\/instagram.com\/kolabtree","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/kolabtree","https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kolabtree"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/81992f5863a1b06d132a47822e7b4400","name":"Ramya Sriram","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8100b45c960ebbbbe420e8b3f250515f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8100b45c960ebbbbe420e8b3f250515f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ramya Sriram"},"description":"Ramya Sriram manages digital content and communications at Kolabtree (kolabtree.com), the world's largest freelancing platform for scientists. She has over a decade of experience in publishing, advertising and digital content creation.","url":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/author\/ramyas\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9429"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9429"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9440,"href":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9429\/revisions\/9440"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}