Having a job as a physical therapist offers growth prospects as there is still a growing demand for the coming years. One of the potential requirements of this type of profession is the growing number of chronic conditions like diabetes in which patients have issues of mobility. This type of profession should be instrumental as they could allow people to recover from health issues or injuries in order to regain independence.
If being a physical therapist is what you aim to become, you need to have a doctor’s degree of physical therapy. Working in the U.S. also requires you to get a license to be allowed to practice the profession. If you want to know more about the job, it might be essential to peek into the pros and cons to begin with.
List of Pros of Being a Physical Therapist
1. Making a Significant Difference
Basically, a physical therapist should be able to make a huge difference in the lives of the patients. For instance, physical therapists are able to help patients regain their mobility instead of living a miserable life in pain from injury. Some of them are able to cater to the needs of people who have been in a sports injury or into recovery from stroke. So their goal is to reduce pain, improve mobility, and prevent disability.
2. Getting Job Satisfaction
When a professional health practitioner knows that his or her effort has helped someone to return to normal, you’ll never know how satisfying it is. So there are a huge number of physical therapists who claim they are very satisfied with their current profession. In fact, they belong to the top 5 in the job satisfaction rank.
3. Proficiency in Many Techniques
This profession will require prospective physical therapists to become experts having various techniques. Thus, they should be skilled in electrotherapy, massage, ultrasound, and using hot and ice packs.
4. Offers Job Security
Although the economy was a bit banged up some time ago, physical therapists were still in demand. So even if the numbers are already satisfactory, the demand still continues to grow in the next 10 years or so.
List of Cons of Being a Physical Therapist
1. Student Loan Dilemma
When a physical therapist begins to practice his or her career, it is said that there is a student loan debt stalking behind. This is because it will take years of sacrifice to achieve such a degree. In some cases, after gaining a bachelor’s degree, the physical therapist should complete a 3-year doctoral program. However, for those who want to specialize, they can undergo training from a residency program that should take 9 months to 3 years.
2. Physically Demanding Career
Being a professional physical therapist, it is still imperative to maintain a great diet and get enough sleep to achieve well-being.
3. Renewal of License
Without a license, physical therapists can’t provide services to their clients. They can be disciplined by the law if they violate this provision. So they must undergo renewal of licenses if they want to continue serving patients. In some places of the U.S., it will be required to attend education classes during renewal periods.
Brandon Miller has a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a seasoned writer who has written over one hundred articles, which have been read by over 500,000 people. If you have any comments or concerns about this blog post, then please contact the Green Garage team here.