Army PT Career Life Cycle

[scrawnyguy]

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I'm looking for some info from current or soon to be Army PTs. What is the typical career life cycle like for PTs? Is your first assignment typically at a larger clinic then you move on to become a brigade PT? I hate to put the cart before the horse but I'm curious what the typical career timeline looks like.

 

[Deedog]

I'm also interested in army PT but theres not much info out there that Ive found. I wonder if they do a good job mentoring new grads? Because I honestly don't feel like I'm good enough or know enough to be a good therapist without a mentor or experience therapist to help me grow, and I graduate in May

 

[scrawnyguy]

I've noticed a handful of things in my short time observing at Ft. Carson. Things may be a little different at other Army clinics but I'm sure there are many similarities.

1. A lot of the PTs are civilians. Some are prior military but many are not. Many I've spoken to so far are actually military spouses who move every few years with their spouse when they PCS. In general they seem to be pretty solid.

2. It's very ortho based. Lot's of knee and back problems. Many of the patients are active duty soldiers but there are also a lot of dependents. Clinics now see retirees as well. They also do some inpatient stuff. I haven't seen any more specialized stuff like Neuro.

3. PTs don't do a lot of treatment. For the most part they do evals and reevals. The actually therapy is handled by PTAs and Techs. This part is a bit of a bummer for me. At times it feels as if the PTs are cooped up in a small exam room doing evals one right after another. It almost felt like an assembly line.

Starting next week I am going to link up with the Chief of PT before my "shift". He will serve as a sort of mentor. He's an "green suiter" not a civilian. Hopefully working with him will give me a better of idea of what to expect as a military PT.

It's only been a few weeks but my experience there has been pretty good. I can definitely see why Army Baylor strongly, strongly suggests applicants observe in a military clinic. It's definitely a different animal.

 

[East10DPT]

Interesting. I am interested in military PT, though I am undecided as to which branch. Hoping to do at least 1-2 clinical at military settings. Any advice on how to go about setting that up?

 

[That_Donkey]

Give your local recruiter a call and he/she can point you in the right direction. Army seems like the easiest way in, if you're not active/reserves.