Yeah, so people are not going into PT for the salary
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I know I am not; shoot if a hospital pays for my loans, i will work for them for 60k!
Most of us are pre-PT students doing some research and looking for advice on these forums. But, I totally disagree with you when you say it's not about the money. (Therefore, I'm going to put in my two cents
).
I don't understand this 50-60 hours a week talk. (Maybe my state's budget deficits are a lie?) One of the doctors I talked to said he recently hired a graduate at $50 an hour who worked 3.5 days a week and was still bringing in 70K.
Last December I almost had a mental breakdown thinking about my future. I mean, I was supposed to do this in high school, right? Let's be honest. Teachers/professors have absolutely no idea what the job market truly looks like.
I'm an Exercise Science major, so you know my heart lies in athletics. But as I started to blow through my school's program with ease, I FINALLY started doing the research on personal training salaries, exercise phys, & anything else related to that field. What I found was a JOKE.
Anyone who says "money can't buy happiness" was over simplifying the phrase. Honestly, what can a person do with $30-50K a year? YES, happiness comes from what you love doing and the relationships you've built around you, etc. etc. But what happens when the 1st of the month rolls around and the bills start stacking up? Would a good salary take that stress away, therefore promoting growth of happiness? Definitely.
I'm not a PT student, yet. I've just begun to set up interns/interviews with several therapy directors in my area, and I want to summarize what I've learned from them.
First, whether you pay about 30K for a school like SLU or 45K for a school like WASH U or Northwestern, employers DO NOT care where you graduate from. All they care about is if you know how to design programs consistent with their therapy philosophy.
Second, starting salaries are fairly consistent, too. In southern IL, fresh graduates can expect to make about 70K. In the more populated areas with vast projected growth, PTs are making between 94-104K. It's simple; go to where the money is.
Third, the PT "ceiling" talk seems like it's just a way to deter students from entering the field. 70K will be enough to satisfy you for awhile, but if it still isn't enough, go out and get a BSN from an accelerated program. One doctor told me it was an additional 50K to his salary. Or how about a specific branch of rehab, like a cardiovascular rehabilitation specialist? Don't forget that the setting matters, too (hospital, nursing home, athletics, etc.)
Lastly, PT isn't a job where you are watching the clock all day. The majority of PTs love what they do. It's not hard work at all, and is actually very similar to personal training in a sense that instead of charging clients $15-20 an hour and telling them to perform 10 reps of leg extensions, I can charge them (one doctor's rate was $250) and still tell them to performs 10 reps of leg extensions.
My last summary was a gross generalization, but that was basically it.
The fact is, there is a starting salary in any professional career. If you want more money, you have to work harder. Just upgrade your credentials. If working at a hospital isn't enough, open up a private practice on the side and have someone else run it while you reap the benefits.
Do I sound greedy because I want money to be a huge factor in my PT career? Maybe, because we are all doing this for OUR future and eventual families. Will I tell my interviewer that money is the reason I'm applying to their program? Definitely not. Will I still provide the best care to my patients, regardless of how much I'm making? Yes.
Life as a physical therapist seems to only get easier as time goes on.
I'm being real blunt about this money issue because it is just that. The amount of money we make will be inversely proportional to the amount of stress we have at bill day.
That's about all of my input for now. Feel free to comment because I would like to benefit from these forums as well
