Advice please!!

[jesse14]

I would really appreciate some input on this:

I have been accepted to both the CMCC (Chiropractic College) and McGill for my MSc.PT. I have 3 days to make a choice and it's driving me nuts.
I like chiro and find it interesting. I know the CMCC is moving to a much more evidenced based and integrative curriculum. There are learning that manip is only one tool and not thee tool. New CMCC grads do a lot of soft tissue work like ART, Graston, Medical Acupuncture, Ultrasound, Ice/heat therapy, exercise prescription, TENS etc. The CMCC has moved away from that crazy subluxation nonsense and only uses it as a historical perspective in teaching.

The money issue:
The CMCC is about 21-23K a year for 4 years and my MSc.PT is about 6-7 K a year for 3 years. I will be in a lot less debt as a PT and I know that. However, a few PTs have told me that making 50-65K a year is good as a new grad, but as one starts a family and such, it just doesn't cut it anymore. I realize there is more risk in chiro b/c there aren’t many salaried positions, but isn't the possible reward greater? I've been told that in life the ones that risk the most often achieve the most. I want to one day make in the 6 figures (or at least high 5 figures) and I don't know if that's possible in PT. Is it??

I know about the chirotalk websites and all of that. My confusion is this: I've read a lot of bad stuff about chiro, but I really haven’t seen it. All the DCs I’ve seen are doing quite well. Maybe it's a matter of the most vocal DC's displaying there displeasure with the profession.

Job satisfaction:
I've been told by a few PTs that they find it VERY hard to spend 1+ hour with the same pt 3X a week. I don't really want to have to make small talk every hour or so with every pt I see as a PT. Talking about the weather our the latest Britney Spears gossip 5X a day really doesn't do it for me. I mean, spending an hour with the same pt must be tiresome. Do any PTs here feel that way? Also, I simply find myself more interested in chiropractic. I read more about it and think about it more than Physio. Should that be telling me something? Can't chiros do most of what PT's can? What major differences in treatment can one provide that the other can’t? And please don't say Chiro's cant do PT because there are trained in rehab, exercise prescription, soft tissue therapy, modalities etc. I know they don't work with cardioresp pts or neurologically impaired pts, so I guess that is exclusive to PT. I'm really only interested is MSK and sports related issues anyway. I like that idea of being able to dx pts. I don't know how it is it the states, but here in Ontario chiros, by law, have to communicate a dx to the pt. I don't believe PT's are allowed or trained to do that. Is that accurate?

Basically, I am very conflicted btw the two professions and I know they both have their pros and cons. If anyone wants to give me any advice/knowledge/experience/ideas I’d be very grateful.

Thank you very much,

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[ONstudentPT]

I would really appreciate some input on this:

I have been accepted to both the CMCC (Chiropractic College) and McGill for my MSc.PT. I have 3 days to make a choice and it's driving me nuts.
I like chiro and find it interesting. I know the CMCC is moving to a much more evidenced based and integrative curriculum. There are learning that manip is only one tool and not thee tool. New CMCC grads do a lot of soft tissue work like ART, Graston, Medical Acupuncture, Ultrasound, Ice/heat therapy, exercise prescription, TENS etc. The CMCC has moved away from that crazy subluxation nonsense and only uses it as a historical perspective in teaching.

The money issue:
The CMCC is about 21-23K a year for 4 years and my MSc.PT is about 6-7 K a year for 3 years. I will be in a lot less debt as a PT and I know that. However, a few PTs have told me that making 50-65K a year is good as a new grad, but as one starts a family and such, it just doesn't cut it anymore. I realize there is more risk in chiro b/c there aren't many salaried positions, but isn't the possible reward greater? I've been told that in life the ones that risk the most often achieve the most. I want to one day make in the 6 figures (or at least high 5 figures) and I don't know if that's possible in PT. Is it??

I know about the chirotalk websites and all of that. My confusion is this: I've read a lot of bad stuff about chiro, but I really haven't seen it. All the DCs I've seen are doing quite well. Maybe it's a matter of the most vocal DC's displaying there displeasure with the profession.

Job satisfaction:
I've been told by a few PTs that they find it VERY hard to spend 1+ hour with the same pt 3X a week. I don't really want to have to make small talk every hour or so with every pt I see as a PT. Talking about the weather our the latest Britney Spears gossip 5X a day really doesn't do it for me. I mean, spending an hour with the same pt must be tiresome. Do any PTs here feel that way? Also, I simply find myself more interested in chiropractic. I read more about it and think about it more than Physio. Should that be telling me something? Can't chiros do most of what PT's can? What major differences in treatment can one provide that the other can't? And please don't say Chiro's cant do PT because there are trained in rehab, exercise prescription, soft tissue therapy, modalities etc. I know they don't work with cardioresp pts or neurologically impaired pts, so I guess that is exclusive to PT. I'm really only interested is MSK and sports related issues anyway. I like that idea of being able to dx pts. I don't know how it is it the states, but here in Ontario chiros, by law, have to communicate a dx to the pt. I don't believe PT's are allowed or trained to do that. Is that accurate?

Basically, I am very conflicted btw the two professions and I know they both have their pros and cons. If anyone wants to give me any advice/knowledge/experience/ideas I'd be very grateful.

Thank you very much,

Hey Jesse,

Congrats on the acceptances.

Ok I am a new grad and I justed wanted to clarify somethings about the whole money issue for PTs.

PT can be a good job and you can make good money!

How much money you will make will depend on a few things:

How much risk are you willing to take?
What kind of environment are you willing to work in?
How many hours are you willing to work?


Here are some options:

If you decide to open your own private clinic you can potentially make

over 120 000++

CONS:
-this option will have obvious risks of failure just like any other business
-possible long hours for the first few years

OR

you can work in home care making 50 dollars an hour/visit lets say 50 hours a week which is 120 000 a year... not bad? Or you can do a combo of homecare and private clinic work...and still pull in over 90k


The potential of making 120 000 or more with a 20 000 dollar school investment for an MScPT(this is mostly for canada) degree at a public university = a pretty good investment


Other option would be a comfortable job with good security and benifits and paid vacations at a hospital making around 55-75k. At the hospital right now a PT would probably max out at about 75k unless you go into administration.

OR you can work at an outpatient clinic as an employee or independent contractor making around 80-90k.

All the PTs I know with 3+ years of experience and who work full time hours (excluding the ones who work in the hospital) make between 80k-120++k net income depending whether they have there own business or are employees.

BTW ...PTs do and are trained to Dx MSK conditions in Ontario


I dont know anything 100% sure about how the chiro market is in Ontario. I do know that chiros made a lot of money in the 80's and 90's but from what I am hearing from some new chiro grads including one who was a chiro and went back to school to be a PT is that things are much harder for new chiro grads now. One new grad I talked who live in Toronto says that he is only pulling in aroudn 30-35k in his first year as an associate and I know for sure as a new PT grad you can make around 55-70k depending how where you work and how many hours.

So if you are worried about money and security. I would recommend PT cause at least you know that for sure you can make a living and have a loan that is not too hard to pay off.

 

[PTapp]

Jesse14,

I was also accepted to a chiro and DPT school this year and I picked PT school over chiro in the end. Whatever the way I looked at it, I found PT much more appealing than chiropractic. Last year, I talked to a last year chiropractic student about the profession. He told me that he likes the school and everything, but he also told me not to expect more than 35k as a new grad. There's no job security, no guarantee on a salary in high 5 digits yet alone 55-70k as a new grad, IMO, they are less respected in the medical field (but doesn't mean they don't know their stuff).

So you are looking at a chiro college with 4 years of education at 20+k a year with absolutely NO job security when you can get you masters in 3 years in PT with a 6-7k a year tuition which almost guarantees you a salary around 55k-70k a year considering you will graduate and pass the boards.

I have been working as a rehab tech (ortho setting) for the last 6 months and I absolutely love it. I am not a talkative person or anything, and the #1 reason why I was doubtful about PT was that fact that I had to open up some kind of a conversation with patients to let the time pass fast. Man, was I wrong. When I go to work now, I don't think about avoiding conversations with the patients. In fact, now, I enjoy it. Plus, my patients know that I care about them by showing interest in what they have to say. OF course, you will always have some nut cases complaining about some exercises, and how they are not getting better, instead getting worse. This will happen no matter how hard you try. So, if that's what's holding you from going for PT, I say don't worry about this so much.

In PT, there are opportunities in Sports Physical therapy. In fact, you can get an advanced certification in Sports PT and work with athletes.

Good luck with your decision, buddy. Hope my input helps a little.