Personally, I would think it would make more sense to find another physical therapy position, Per Diem, for the weekends if you do have that extra time as you would be making more money then as personal trainer. I can not speak for all DPT programs but I can say that in my program we have extensive training in general fitness and concepts of personal training, difference being that we don't focus on the regular gym environment without any pathology, so a lot of clinicians and students may not be as creative in a non therapeutic sense and visa versa for a personal trainer in a therapeutic sense for an individual with functional limitation. You can theoretically work as both however when it comes to your patients remember that you are now looked at as their go to provider for their "functional limitations", so if you continue to train them past discharge while they pay out of pocket, their could be a lot of ethical issues you would deal with as well as them still holding that patient/therapist relationship with you. They will be asking you for "therapeutic advice", and as issues arise may expect you to treat them. Remember their is always a difference in training for performance and treating to restore function, and physical therapists are trained to do both! (Long post because this is something I am very interested in as well after I graduate from PT school). I am interested to hear any experiences from graduates who do practice both or offer maintenance/fitness programs in or out of the clinic for previous patients.
