Physical Therapy Degrees

People with physical therapy degrees work to help ease pain in their patients' joints and bones, and help people improve their mobility after car or sports accidents and other injuries.

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Physical therapist training involves a bachelor's degree along with some professional graduate training. A.T. Still University offers courses that will lead to a degree in this area. Today, people are living longer than they ever have before.

An increase in the number of aging individuals has led to a demand for well-trained physical therapists. Physical therapists work with clients to overcome physical injury and improve mobility. This can be a physically demanding career, but it is also richly rewarding.

If you love helping people, a career in physical therapy might be a good choice for you. To succeed in the program and in the career, you need to have a strong background in mathematics, science, and communications. The careers and professions are fast paced but are also very rewarding.

Most patients have are accident victims, those with conditions as burns, amputations, stroke, vertigo, low back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries, and cerebral palsy, and repetitive stress. Physical therapists develop rehabilitation plans and then offer evaluations based on the patients' activities and progress. They assist them in many activities such as teaching patients to walk again helping athletes improve after injuries etc. They also work with patient to develop home therapy programs.

Education and Training

While physical therapists are required to have a master's degree, many people choose t. o earn a doctorate in physical therapy. You can also complete a diploma at Penn Foster. For students who have already earned a bachelor’s degree and have taken the appropriate prerequisites in chemistry, biology, and physics, a doctoral program can take about three to four years. More advance training in physical therapy degrees may require over four years of training; however, diploma and certificate programs may be completed in about two years. Starting physical therapy assistants usually earn a 2-year associate’s degree from an accredited physical therapy assistant program. All physical therapy degrees (PT programs) require a bachelor's degree from an accredited 4-year college or university. Some courses (many with labs) you can expect to take are:

• General Biology
• Organic Chemistry
• General Physics
• Human Anatomy
• Human Physiology
• Statistics and calculus
• Psychology and social sciences

Expected Salary

Many physician assistant programs can qualify you for a full-time job after two years of study. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the medical assisting field to grow much faster than other careers over the next ten years, as doctors need larger support teams to accommodate growing number of patients. The American Academy of Physician Assistants reports that most first-year professionals earn a salary over $60,000, making this a lucrative and rewarding job opportunity.

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