How did you become interested in Physical Therapy?

[Future PT 12]

How did you become interested in PT and decided you wanted to pursue a career in it? Was there another major you were considering before deciding you wanted to do PT?

I thought it would be interesting to know how everyone became interested in PT. I know some got interested through actually going to PT for rehabilitation services.


Please share

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[DHJunkie]

I'm an older student (35 YO) and didn't take the "traditional" route to PT school right out of undergrad. I was always interested in the field, which was one of the reasons I chose molecular bio as a major as an undergrad. I volunteered in inpatient PT for a year and a half and absolutely loved. However following graduation, I was offered an opportunity to work in the banking sector at Morgan Stanley. I wasn't all too keen about entering Wall Street, however, $$ talks........very few 'legitimate' professions where you can potentially make six figures out of undergrad. Fast forward ten years, I suffered a torn posterior tibial tendon in my ankle racing mountain bikes. I was miserable working as an analyst. I had some really wonderful conversations w/ my PT about the profession and the pluses/minuses. After some thinking and analyzing my finances, I decided to take the plunge......quit my job and enrolled at my local CC to finish up some prerequisites. My PT was REALLY excited about this........she ended up offering me a paid position as an aide. So here I am today........two weeks from starting my first day of class at the University of Wisconsin I still do some consulting work for an analyst on occasion since the pay's really good, but there's not one day I look back and second guess my decision. Hell, I'm broke now and had to forgo some of my luxuries, but I'll take happiness ANYDAY over working in corporate America.

 

[jess818]

I'll start it off!

Well, I remember being in high school and looking at colleges with my dad. He suggested one college because they had a pre-pt program and was like "I think that would be something you'd enjoy!". Being a typical teenager that I was, I responded "No way! That'd be way too hard to get into and it's sooo much school. I just want to be in and out in 4 years!"

So I started as a business major and was MISERABLE. I figured I can't go on like this so why not give PT a go. I was just accepted this past Wednesday

I also briefly considered OT, Nursing and PA. I am very happy with my decision as I really truly enjoy learning about anatomy and the body as a whole opposed to more of the biological/chemical aspects of it. I also enjoy fitness and nutrition and feel that PT would let me include those things along with my love of learning functional anatomy. I really like working with people and hate not being busy. I could never have a desk job or a job where I couldn't talk to people. I also like the flexibility/stability that the career offers.

I think PT is a great career choice and am glad I stuck it out as I feel it will be very fulfilling for me.

 

[Phatmomma]

I too am an older (34 year old) and non-traditional student. I was pre-med in undergrad, but wasn't serious enough about my studies then. I ended up graduating with a sub-3.0 gpa. I was completely lost and ended up traveling and doing odd jobs after graduating. For some strange and unknown reason, I decided to go to law school. I ended up practicing law for almost 7 years and was absolutely MISERABLE. There was absolutely nothing I found exciting or enjoyed about the profession to continue enduring all the crap that goes along with practicing law. And contrary to popular belief, most lawyers don't make a ton of money and have to work long hours to make $ that they do make. So to all the people on this forum that complain about having to run your own PT practice or work extra hours doing home health on the side in order to break $100k, most professions also require that extra time/work/stress in order to make that kind of money. I digress.

As time went on, I became more and more unhappy to the point that I had trouble getting out of bed, I was getting gray hair from all the stress, having GI problems, getting intense headaches, and I found myself crying a lot. I would talk to everyone I could to find out what they were doing with their lives. Then after running my first marathon, I was in PT...not the first time. I had been in and out of it since I was in H.S. for sports-related injuries. Something finally clicked. I loved the patient-PT interaction, working with others to achieve a higher purpose, the intellect involved, etc. I did more research and talked to a lot of P.T.'s and did a little shadowing. I had a lot of heart-to-hearts with my parents, husband and close friends. They were all very supportive. Then I decided to go for it!! I couldn't imagine living the rest of my life miserably and living a sub-par existence when I had the opportunity to do something I believed in and cared about that made me happy...not to mention, my life probably would have been much shorter if I continued practicing law. [Comment: To those who fret about the potential income you make as a PT, $ does not necessarily bring you happiness. It can potentially kill you!]

Anyway, I am very excited for my future in PT. Yes, I'm sure there will be some challenges personally and to the profession that I will encounter. But, that doesn't sway me one bit from continuing on this path. Every profession has it's challenges. It's just that my love for PT far outweighs any negatives that may come along with it. The polar opposite from my experience with the law.

 

[Future PT 12]

From working at Morgan Stanley, to majoring in Business, and being a Lawyer you all have very interesting stories! This is great information as well as motivation for people debating on whether or not to pursue a career in PT. After reading through everyone's posts so far, I forgot to list the reason how I became interested in PT.
________________________________________________________________

When I was in high school I had the intention of majoring in Biology in college so I could become a Pharmacist. I was really interested in pharmacy because I loved the idea of mixing ingredients and filling prescriptions to help people get better.

Later on in high school my dad started to have a back and knee pain. He eventually ended up having surgery on his knee. He used to take cortisone shots for his back pain (but he has been seeing a chiropractor) so he does get them anymore. Anyways after his knee surgery he was referred to see a PT to help his recovery process.

I used to go with him to his PT sessions and would get the opportunity to watch and learn what he was doing while in therapy. I started to research more about physical therapy and decided this is what I wanted to do in the near future. Not to mention, I do like to exercise and the fact that exercising is a form of "rehabilitation" in PT makes it even better!

 

[DHJunkie]

I too am an older (34 year old) and non-traditional student. I was pre-med in undergrad, but wasn't serious enough about my studies then. I ended up graduating with a sub-3.0 gpa. I was completely lost and ended up traveling and doing odd jobs after graduating. For some strange and unknown reason, I decided to go to law school. I ended up practicing law for almost 7 years and was absolutely MISERABLE. There was absolutely nothing I found exciting or enjoyed about the profession to continue enduring all the crap that goes along with practicing law. And contrary to popular belief, most lawyers don't make a ton of money and have to work long hours to make $ that they do make. So to all the people on this forum that complain about having to run your own PT practice or work extra hours doing home health on the side in order to break $100k, most professions also require that extra time/work/stress in order to make that kind of money. I digress.

As time went on, I became more and more unhappy to the point that I had trouble getting out of bed, I was getting gray hair from all the stress, having GI problems, getting intense headaches, and I found myself crying a lot. I would talk to everyone I could to find out what they were doing with their lives. Then after running my first marathon, I was in PT...not the first time. I had been in and out of it since I was in H.S. for sports-related injuries. Something finally clicked. I loved the patient-PT interaction, working with others to achieve a higher purpose, the intellect involved, etc. I did more research and talked to a lot of P.T.'s and did a little shadowing. I had a lot of heart-to-hearts with my parents, husband and close friends. They were all very supportive. Then I decided to go for it!! I couldn't imagine living the rest of my life miserably and living a sub-par existence when I had the opportunity to do something I believed in and cared about that made me happy...not to mention, my life probably would have been much shorter if I continued practicing law. [Comment: To those who fret about the potential income you make as a PT, $ does not necessarily bring you happiness. It can potentially kill you!]

Anyway, I am very excited for my future in PT. Yes, I'm sure there will be some challenges personally and to the profession that I will encounter. But, that doesn't sway me one bit from continuing on this path. Every profession has it's challenges. It's just that my love for PT far outweighs any negatives that may come along with it. The polar opposite from my experience with the law.

Congratulations on the career change Your experiences as an attorney sound strikingly similar to mine as equity analyst! I too get a kick out of some of these threads about having to work extra hours to produce a 'decent' salary! Yes, I probably will never make as much as I did working Wall Street jobs, but there probably won't be too many instances where I'll have to work 100+ hour weeks for a narcissistic coke addict. Luckily, I came to my senses before I personally became a self destructive wreck!

I'm SO excited about my future career. Congratulations and the best of luck to everybody! let's keep this thread going.......love hearing everybody's unique stories!

 

[Phatmomma]

I'm an older student (35 YO) and didn't take the "traditional" route to PT school right out of undergrad. I was always interested in the field, which was one of the reasons I chose molecular bio as a major as an undergrad. I volunteered in inpatient PT for a year and a half and absolutely loved. However following graduation, I was offered an opportunity to work in the banking sector at Morgan Stanley. I wasn't all too keen about entering Wall Street, however, $$ talks........very few 'legitimate' professions where you can potentially make six figures out of undergrad. Fast forward ten years, I suffered a torn posterior tibial tendon in my ankle racing mountain bikes. I was miserable working as an analyst. I had some really wonderful conversations w/ my PT about the profession and the pluses/minuses. After some thinking and analyzing my finances, I decided to take the plunge......quit my job and enrolled at my local CC to finish up some prerequisites. My PT was REALLY excited about this........she ended up offering me a paid position as an aide. So here I am today........two weeks from starting my first day of class at the University of Wisconsin I still do some consulting work for an analyst on occasion since the pay's really good, but there's not one day I look back and second guess my decision. Hell, I'm broke now and had to forgo some of my luxuries, but I'll take happiness ANYDAY over working in corporate America.

Congrats to you too! I love hearing about others taking the plunge, taking care of themselves and doing what makes them happy! It is inspiring! I'm loving this thread too. I'm very excited for the future!

 

[mk992987]

DH... totally understand. I was an analyst for Ernst & Young in NYC right out of college. I worked there for a year and hatttted it. Thanks to the economy, I was laid off.

I always was big time into working out so I starting working at a gym while looking for another finance job. I got my certified as a personal trainer. It was at this point that I realized I didn't belong at a desk job. One of my friends who I trained at the gym was a PT and he called me into shadow him. I thought it was really cool!

I realized PT was a great fit for me so I started taking classes at CC and now I'll be starting PT school at stony brook in about a month. Pretty cool story

 

[jess818]

Kudos to all you career changers for your courage to take control of your lives and not just go with the flow

 

[Akiramay]

Ever since 7th grade when a medical doctor came and spoke to my class about the different professions as a doctor, I had wanted to be a pediatrician (I wasn't exactly sure what they did other than work with children, but it sounded "cool").

So entering college, I majored in biology and was pre-med. Didn't do too well in my biology classes and really didn't like all of the molecular and cellular stuff about the body. I also thought about how I didn't want to be in school for 8 more years and wanted a more flexible career that wouldn't take over my life. But I wanted to stay in the health professions. A doctor in my church recommended physical therapy to me (I had no idea what it was at the time). I researched it online and it sounded interesting, so before I started my second year I switched to a kinesiology major and was pre-PT.

It wasn't until I learned more about physical therapy by taking classes like anatomy or motor learning and control and observing actual PT's that I realized I really was interested in PT. And being in my third trimester of PT school has made me so grateful that that lady recommended I look into PT because I feel like it is the best fit for me and I love it!