Did anyone consider being an adapted PE teacher?

[Justsomeone9]

I am in a career decision phase, and I would like to get some of your thoughts about what made you chose physical therapy over somewhat similar occupations.

I am considering the below jobs, and my notes are included. What are your thoughts about these jobs, and what alternate career paths did you consider?

- Recreation Therapist, & Exercise Physiologist, physical therapist assistant: neither of these jobs pay very well, and with the exception of PTA the job market is poor to so-so. Although, because there would be less paperwork (presumably?), I think I may enjoy the work more. 2-4 years of education.

- Adapted PE teacher: I did the math for this job and per hour worked, it pays only a few dollars an hour less than a PT. Lifetime earning may be higher than a PT because of a pension. It is more supervision and less "hands-on." Hardy any paperwork. 4 years of education. The job market is saturated and it is very, very hard to find a job. I think I would love this job though.

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[ThatKidKate]

I was an Exercise Physiologist for two years (originally got my MS in Ex Phys thinking I wanted to go the PhD route and become a college professor), and I will say that the two occupations are very different. PT is more about helping those limited by movement; whereas, an exercise physiologist teaches group fitness classes, does a bit of personal training, conducts fitness tests and a ton of VO2 max tests, and creates exercise prescriptions. It is a lot less paperwork than PT, but the pay is not even close to comparable (at least in the beginning). I will say that there are many hats an ex phys wears, and it is possible to work in a hospital where it may be more similar to PT? This is just from my experience, and personally I feel better helping those going through PT (especially inpatient) than I do helping someone lose weight or put on muscle. I will also say that where I was working as an Ex Phys was very repetitive, and my experiences with PT had more variety and more options for continued education.

My internship for college was working for an adapted PE teacher, and I really enjoyed it, but the teacher I worked under mentioned how difficult it is to get a job in this field. The school I was at was basically a hub for the entire county for all students who needed to be placed in an adapted class (there were only 4 boys and 3 girls K-5 for the entire county I was in), so it makes sense that it may be difficult to find a job in this field. When I shadowed for PT, and did school-based settings, it seemed really similar to the role of an adapted PE teacher except you were working one-on-one with students as a PT.

Again, this is just from my experiences with these jobs, and I'm sure it's different depending on where you live and what setting you're in. Hope this helps!

 

[Justsomeone9]

Interesting, thanks.