Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA)

QUALIFICATIONS

A certificate, high school or General Educational Development (GED) diploma, or Associate’s degree involving 2 years of clinical instruction-based “Physical Therapy” study and practice credit hours accredited by a nationally recognized certifying body, such as the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), and must pass the National Physical Therapy Exam for PTAs administered by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy and/or the National Physical Therapy Licensure Examination administered by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT); combined with Physical Therapy Assistant – On the Job Training (OJT) programs, Apprenticeships, Physical Therapy Healthcare Workforce Job Training or Experience; that include topics and PTA practice covering anatomy and physiology, body and skeletal systems, physical therapy data collection, diseases/conditions that influence effective treatment, medical management and interventions, injury prevention, emergency preparedness, and infection control, equipment, devices, and methodologies, documentation standards, professional ethics, and health information technology.

AVERAGE HOURLY PAY
(Credits: www.payscale.com)

PROJECTED GROWTH
(Credits: www.bls.gov)

Physical Therapy Assistant is an exciting career, in which employment is projected to grow at an explosive 29 percent from 2019 to 2029.

SKILLS/ TRAITS NEEDED

Besides good body systems and physiotherapy knowledge, the Physical Therapy Assistant must be professional, ethical, “patient-centric”, proactive, agile, and alert with a high degree of patience, perseverance and have great listening, interpersonal, communication skills, compassion, caring, empathy, dexterity, time management & prioritization; and most importantly be extremely flexible and committed to performing the Physical Therapy Assistant duties and responsibilities. They are expected to be “patient-centered” and comforting, having a good working knowledge of medical terminology, an expert in physiotherapy massage and exercises, improving physical functions and fitness, interventions, and devices; be self-organized, proactive, and liaise & report effectively and efficiently with the Medical Team and the patient’s household; taking necessary precautions, comforting, and following the health protocols for the good health, fitness, well being, and safety of the patients.

WORK FUNCTIONS

Physical Therapy Assistant assists the Physical Therapist in monitoring, giving appropriate physiotherapy treatments, improving the physical functions; dealing with physical ailments or pain while keeping the patient in extreme comfort, and providing quality patient care, besides alerting and reporting the health status/ progress of the patient to the Physical Therapist or Medical Team. These include patient counseling, physiotherapy massage, and exercises, interventions and devices use for restoring body part function, reducing symptoms frequency, and preventing injury. Based on the progress they recommend treatment options, courses of action, or modifications to the treatment, ensuring patient safety, and comfort. Seeing the patient walk out with a smile, “pain-free” with complete function and fitness restored is the ultimate goal of a PTA. Besides, they also participate in patient data collection, health status judgments, and documentation.