High Growth Careers - Physical Therapy Assistants

While every other job sector cut their workforce in 2008, the health care field actually added jobs - nearly 400,000 of them. Some of the top careers for now and the future are in health care, and as our population ages, there will be an increased need for physical therapy assistants.

Physical therapist assistants and aides help physical therapists to provide treatment that improves patient mobility, relieves pain, and prevents or lessens physical disabilities of patients. A physical therapist might ask an assistant to help patients exercise or learn to use crutches, for example, or an aide to gather and prepare therapy equipment. Patients include accident victims and individuals with disabling conditions such as lower-back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries, and cerebral palsy.

Physical therapist assistants perform a variety of tasks. Under the direction and supervision of physical therapists, they provide part of a patient’s treatment. This might involve exercises, massages, electrical stimulation, paraffin baths, hot and cold packs, traction, and ultrasound. Physical therapist assistants record the patient’s responses to treatment and report the outcome of each treatment to the physical therapist.

According to payscale.com, job openings for physical therapist assistants are expected to grow by 33 percent in the next decade. Most physical therapist assistants either work in a hospital or a physical therapist’s office with an average salary of $46,111 a year.

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