Just a thought for all of you applying this cycle

[Rgvmed]

Do you really want to be a Physical Therapist? Seriously, think about it hard before you apply. Do you actually know what they do? Are you bored shadowing? Do you think you would be happier doing something else? If you have these thoughts, you need to seriously reconsider before applying. It seems like a lot of students get caught up in keeping up with the status quo and figure that PT school is the right thing to do. You better be damn sure you are 100% passionate about this field or you are going to end up hating your career. This will affect the rest of your life!

If you think that you are going to be wealthy as a physical therapist, you should look over the numbers. It's possible to have a very stable and lucrative career, but it depends on a lot of different variables! If you went to a private undergraduate university and have substantial debt, you better be going to the CHEAPEST school possible. If you are looking at 200k + debt for a career you THINK is a good idea, you are setting yourself up for a massive letdown and serious problems down the road.

I'm not trying to be a debbie downer, but people need to be real on this forum. There is way too much "PT RULES CUZ I SAW MY PAINZ GO AWAY" or "I WANT TO WORK WITH ATHLETES AND LOVE SOCCER". This isn't how it works! You most likely will not work with athletes unless you are an entrepreneur. Do you like old people? If not, you're probably screwed.

Just because you can get it in, doesn't mean you should apply. Just my two cents.

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[Rgvmed]

This obviously doesn't apply to most people applying, but I just want to really inform people who are on the fence about what they are getting themselves into. It's honestly easy to get into PT school without much shadowing experience. This requirement should be upped in my opinion. Students often lie themselves in order to make themselves believe they are making the right decision. 30 hours here, 30 hours there, 30 hours over yonder and guess what...you're in PT school and dealing with patients that were cute and cuddly during your limited shadowing experience.

 

[jblil]

Lots of folks who post in this forum "want to work with athletes" after graduation. The reality is that you are much more likely to work with neuro patients who are drooling continuously and who can't control their limbs, or with an older adult suffering from dementia, or with a very weak patient who needs a lot of help just sitting up in his/her bed. As DPTcoasral said in the post above, make sure you know what you're getting into before you embark on this 3-year journey.
BTW, DPTcoasral - it's USC for you?

 

[atcdpt]

I approve this message.

 

[Mperaza]

I got rejected from about 14 schools and was finally accepted to an expensive out of state private school. I had 48 hours to make a $2,000.00 deposit because they pulled my name from the waitlist. I chose to decline the offer. Honestly, I can't say I was all that excited when I was shadowing PTs. I also thought about what kind of debt I would be in and how I wanted to live. This made my decision a lot easier. As I was meeting other applicants at the interviews I went to, I found that a lot of people were not really considering the financial side of everything. They were more focused on the thought of being addressed as doctors. I just got frustrated with the fact that you can't work during the program, tuition going up every year and that there was no real reason to make the profession require a doctorate degree. I think APTA screwed that one up. I'm sorry to be a downer as well, but people need to wake up...or move to Texas for a year before starting a PT program to get the in state tuition. It's WAY more affordable.

 

[Rgvmed]

The doctor title makes me cringe. Say what you want about deserving to use the title but Do people want to seem in a similar light as chiropractors? Not to mention it is just straight up confusing to patients. I saw a video last night of a married couple in which one is a MD and one is a DNP and it was honestly one of the oddest things I've seen. I truly think there is some large percentage thinking that the career will provide them prestige. Most of them probably do Crossfit.

 

[VitaminPT]

I can't speak for others, but I've spent the last few years at a desk job, paying bills, paying loans, scraping by and looking at trying to climb the corporate ladder and being generally unhappy with what I do. Financially, it makes much more sense for me to stay where I'm at and continue to climb the ladder, but its the patients and the interactions that appeals to me. My interest is primarily neuro and older populations. I was not an athlete in high school or college and I've never spent one session as a patient. Maybe this helps with objectivity with patients...who knows? So I guess I'm one of those weirdos who doesn't really care to work with athletes.

As far as the dept from school. The struggle is real guys and gals. I only accrued around 15k in debt from undergrad and with my current salary, it hurts to pay each month. In undergrad I had this grandiose idea that I would make money and be able to live comfortably. This isn't the case. Bills, loans, mortgage, living expenses, insurance, family expenses all come due each month and chip away at that pay check.

Assuming your yearly take salary is 73k. That is roughly $4,600 monthly take home. Mortgage around eh... $800, student loans $500, living expenses $200, car, home, whatever insurance $100, food $200, $200 gas/miscellaneous. (I'm pulling these numbers out of no where so please don't hold me to these) A conservative example, but that's easily $2,000 gone and expect that to come every 30 days for x amount of years. Heaven forbid you buy a car or have children...

 

[VitaminPT]

And yeah.. I wish I could get away with having just a bachelors or masters. I wouldn't want someone to call me "Doctor".

 

[starrsgirl]

I love this post.....some very honest and serious feedback here. I also cringe a lot at some of my student peers up to their eyeballs in debt. I worry for some who also seem to be in PT because "it's a good field" and yet they haven't done any research into that statement themselves. I know I will feel underpaid for my education and the time spent in school. I will make less then the job I had with a bachelor's degree. But that's ok for me because I also know I will enjoy the job (almost) every day. The critical factor for me was the ability to go back to school without a lot of debt. I had to make a tough decision to decline a fantastic but very expensive school. At the time it was the only school I got into...but I think it's important to say "no, I will not accept this debt load for this career and pay scale. It's a financially risky move". I think if more of us said that, it would help change the tide....but I realize it's not going to happen. In the end, I got competitive, went nuts improving my application, reapplied and figured out ways to go to school for cheap.

 

[PTpro]

I truly think there is some large percentage thinking that the career will provide them prestige. Most of them probably do Crossfit.

Haha so true

 

[Azimuthal]

And yeah.. I wish I could get away with having just a bachelors or masters. I wouldn't want someone to call me "Doctor".

Devil's advocate here, because that's what I do.

The notion that if you have a terminal degree, you should/will be called "doctor" is ridiculous. What do people call their attorney? I think social pressure has reflected into insecurity. It's neither difficult nor burdensome to ask someone to call you by your name if it makes you uncomfortable during those rare instances. This isn't CoD, the degree isn't going to add up social points to a physician prestige level. We are different professions. The majority of the population knows this.

Also, the people with families and children are doing fine. It seems that 95% of speculators do not have either.

 

[Tyguy1]

Devil's advocate here, because that's what I do.

The notion that if you have a terminal degree, you should/will be called "doctor" is ridiculous. What do people call their attorney? I think social pressure has reflected into insecurity. It's neither difficult nor burdensome to ask someone to call you by your name if it makes you uncomfortable during those rare instances. This isn't CoD, the degree isn't going to add up social points to a physician prestige level. We are different professions. The majority of the population knows this.

Also, the people with families and children are doing fine. It seems that 95% of speculators do not have either.

So... What you're telling me is that I can't get level 15 grand master prestige ?

 

[Azimuthal]

So... What you're telling me is that I can't get level 15 grand master prestige ?

Alas, no...:-(

 

[Tyguy1]

Alas, no...:-(

Sigh... total bummer. I loved the reference, I had to continue it.

 

[Rgvmed]

Devil's advocate here, because that's what I do.

The notion that if you have a terminal degree, you should/will be called "doctor" is ridiculous. What do people call their attorney? I think social pressure has reflected into insecurity. It's neither difficult nor burdensome to ask someone to call you by your name if it makes you uncomfortable during those rare instances. This isn't CoD, the degree isn't going to add up social points to a physician prestige level. We are different professions. The majority of the population knows this.

Also, the people with families and children are doing fine. It seems that 95% of speculators do not have either.

I don't know if I completely agree with you here. I don't think the majority of the population does in fact know that there is a difference between the the "Dr." title in a healthcare profession. Yes, most know that a college professor is indeed not a medical doctor. This is getting a bit off topic here, but I just wanted to throw that out there. I've seen a lot of patients in a clinic I worked in honestly think that one of the PTs in the clinic was an actual medical doctor. I've seen this in multiple settings and multiple disciplines, not just physical therapy. It's mostly the older population from my experience but it's not a clear cut as it may seem to young and educated folk. Even on social media, I see PTs graduating and promoting themselves as Dr. So and So, and people are commenting back that they are so proud of they went to medical school, yada yada. It's confusing.

 

[Azimuthal]

I don't know if I completely agree with you here. I don't think the majority of the population does in fact know that there is a difference between the the "Dr." title in a healthcare profession. Yes, most know that a college professor is indeed not a medical doctor. This is getting a bit off topic here, but I just wanted to throw that out there. I've seen a lot of patients in a clinic I worked in honestly think that one of the PTs in the clinic was an actual medical doctor. I've seen this in multiple settings and multiple disciplines, not just physical therapy. It's mostly the older population from my experience but it's not a clear cut as it may seem to young and educated folk. Even on social media, I see PTs graduating and promoting themselves as Dr. So and So, and people are commenting back that they are so proud of they went to medical school, yada yada. It's confusing.

Is it confusing? Why can't we educate versus shun ourselves from a degree we earned? In my view, it's more of an insecurity issue. In my experience, and I just graduated, a quick "not a medical doctor..." solved the confusion 99% of the time. I saw 20 patients a day of mostly lower socioeconomic status. Some with no English. Let's face it, the DPT is not going anywhere and downplaying it will only do harm to our profession than good.

Also, new graduates can promote themselves as "doctor". They earned it. Using the title itself has been covered within this forum plenty of times. I don't use it, but I'm not going downplay its value.

My main point was to dispel the myth that PT's are using the title "doctor" to gain some prestige from the physician pool. We're physical therapists.

 

[WaitlistPro]

Most of them probably do Crossfit.

 

[Rgvmed]

Is it confusing? Why can't we educate versus shun ourselves from a degree we earned? In my view, it's more of an insecurity issue. In my experience, and I just graduated, a quick "not a medical doctor..." solved the confusion 99% of the time. I saw 20 patients a day of mostly lower socioeconomic status. Some with no English. Let's face it, the DPT is not going anywhere and downplaying it will only do harm to our profession than good.

Also, new graduates can promote themselves as "doctor". They earned it. Using the title itself has been covered within this forum plenty of times. I don't use it, but I'm not going downplay its value.

My main point was to dispel the myth that PT's are using the title "doctor" to gain some prestige from the physician pool. We're physical therapists.

Fair enough, you make a lot of great points and you're right, they have earned it. I am just on the other side of the fence on the issue. I appreciate your input.

 

[Azimuthal]

Fair enough, you make a lot of great points and you're right, they have earned it. I am just on the other side of the fence on the issue. I appreciate your input.

The profession is evolving very quickly and I do see why students demonstrate hesitation of owning our entry-level title. I see a lot of it as having to do with tuition increases and the negative connotation of the APTA's direction.

Going back to the original intention of your post, aspiring PTs do have a lot to learn about debt:income and the availability of more high profile jobs. We have a lot of dancers who came in with the sole intention of working with performing artists. That changed quick. We got one guy that only (and still) care about catering to cyclists. I can see him doing that, but ask him about balance retraining or ADL's, and you'd get a smirk and a cold shoulder. Heck, when I was a pre-PT student, my peers firmly believed that they were going to do a rotation with the Oakland A's and then "get a job there easily" since they did a rotation.

During my first rotation through acute care, there was a miscommunication between a PTA and patient while a PT was treating a sacral ulcer with mechanical debridement. The result was an exploding #2. Thank goodness for ppe. Just before that, the PT was telling me how she went into PT to work with sports teams. The moral of this story is that it is easy to see poop splatter on blonde hair.

 

[Azimuthal]

Double post.

 

[ktachiba]

I feel that people underestimate the potential salary...if you pick the right location or are willing to work 50 hours or travel PT, you can easily make 6 figures (or close to it)... Las Vegas has an average salary of like $110,000, and it isn't a crappy city that is in the middle of nowhere (well at least in my opinion haha)

I also have interacted with multiple PTs that graduated from USC (the most expensive PT school), and they don't seem to be struggling with money.

 

[ktachiba]

I also have seen an upward trend in the average PT salary...it was ~65K four years ago when I started looking into this profession, and now its ~$80K

 

[Rgvmed]

You may be right ktachiba, but many people will also put up a front about what their life is really like. All I'm trying to do is sprinkle a little bit of reality into the minds of potential applicants. You also have to take into account time value of money, starting salary, and interest on loans (especially if you have a metric s-ton). If you have zero debt going into PT school and love the profession, then yes you are set! Otherwise, be cautious and don't apply unless you really want it.

 

[ktachiba]

You may be right ktachiba, but many people will also put up a front about what their life is really like. All I'm trying to do is sprinkle a little bit of reality into the minds of potential applicants. You also have to take into account time value of money, starting salary, and interest on loans (especially if you have a metric s-ton). If you have zero debt going into PT school and love the profession, then yes you are set! Otherwise, be cautious and don't apply unless you really want it.

Oh yeah I totally agree with your points...it just seems that people tend to underestimate the potential earnings of a PT...I thing that is really unique and cool about PT compared to other health care professions is the ease of picking up high paying PRN jobs on the side.

If one is not willing to work PRN jobs or move to higher paying areas, then PT salary can definitely be disappointing, however.