Get me excited about physical therapy!

[FuturePT24]

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Hi guys,

So I just got accepted into PT school, and am starting in June. Lately I have been seeing a lot of people who are unhappy with the profession. Unhappy with billing, unhappy with pay, I saw that SNF thread too. So can some people who really love their job give some positive perspectives? I picked this career path because I thought it would be something I enjoy, not for money.

 

[PTMattI]

I get paid to help people get better, stronger and live more pain free everyday. Plus I get to be on my feet and crack jokes all day. I dont even consider work "work" most of the time. There will always be negative aspects, like with any career...but if you love what you do the positive will outweigh the negative

 

[redrose424]

Hi guys,

So I just got accepted into PT school, and am starting in June. Lately I have been seeing a lot of people who are unhappy with the profession. Unhappy with billing, unhappy with pay, I saw that SNF thread too. So can some people who really love their job give some positive perspectives? I picked this career path because I thought it would be something I enjoy, not for money.

I'm not a PT yet, but am also a soon to be student. I'd just point out that most people have a few aspects of their job that they are unhappy with. It is inevitable. And, since you are about to enter a big change in life, those "negatives" are probably going to start standing out more as you get anxious about your future. That is normal. To be fair, I know a lot of other medical professionals, including doctors, who are unhappy with things such as documentation, scheduling, etc. It can't always be rainbows and sunshine.

 

[noyceguy]

Hi guys,

So I just got accepted into PT school, and am starting in June. Lately I have been seeing a lot of people who are unhappy with the profession. Unhappy with billing, unhappy with pay, I saw that SNF thread too. So can some people who really love their job give some positive perspectives? I picked this career path because I thought it would be something I enjoy, not for money.

By all means stop reading message boards.

 

[DPTinFL]

Hi guys,

So I just got accepted into PT school, and am starting in June. Lately I have been seeing a lot of people who are unhappy with the profession. Unhappy with billing, unhappy with pay, I saw that SNF thread too. So can some people who really love their job give some positive perspectives? I picked this career path because I thought it would be something I enjoy, not for money.

Just worked 6hrs straight at outpatient clinic and saw 9 patients. It felt more like 3hrs. Everyone was happy to come to PT and progressing well towards their goal. I made close to $300. I don't have to take any work home. A patient that works in hospitality is hooking me up. I got the rest of the day to chill. Life is good.

 

[theamazingantonio]

Just worked 6hrs straight at outpatient clinic and saw 9 patients. It felt more like 3hrs. Everyone was happy to come to PT and progressing well towards their goal. I made close to $300. I don't have to take any work home. A patient that works in hospitality is hooking me up. I got the rest of the day to chill. Life is good.

This is such a wonderful reply. lol love it

 

[scrawnyguy]

I've honesty felt the same way lately. I think it's because after months (or years) of hustling non-stop to get into school we now have some downtime to "reflect." I'm also guilty of spending way too much time on these forums, which isn't necessarily good. I think people often more to post grievances than they are to post when things are good. Perhaps it's just me, but when I go to a restaurant and have a bad experience I am more likely to go online and write a review than I am if I have a good experience. I'm not sure why that it is. I think the same thing happens on here. Sometimes people just need to vent a bit. For both of our sake I hope that's the case.

 

[jblil]

OP - one of the advantages of this profession is that it's highly portable. After you have a year or two of experience under your belt, you can switch employers and settings fairly easily. So, vote with your feet if need be. The caveat is that nobody knows what the PT job market is going to be like 5-7 years from now, esp. with the numerous new schools opening up.

 

[topher031888]

In regards to the SNF discussion. I finished my first full time clinical last summer in a SNF and I loved it. I was less than thrilled about going their initially (it is a long story of how I ended up picking it) but it turned out to be a fantastic experience. I met some amazing people (patients and co workers) that I will never forget. The environment is usually lower stress when compared to other areas and you can challenge yourself as much as you want. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a solid 9-5 job with decent pay and minimal to moderate stress level.

PT is a great career but people like to complain. I have had several jobs in different fields (tourism, car sales, automotive parts, automotive pain, retail, medical interpreter, and fast food) and they all had a certain amount of negativity. Heck, I was a tour guide in Alaska for two seasons where all I did was drive people around in a bus and look at scenery, wild life, talk to passengers, get free stuff, and eat food. Even with that job I had co workers who complained so much about DOT inspections, waking up early, crazy people, and log books that they failed to enjoy any of it. Don't let the negative talk get you down.

DPTinFL also has a great point, patients are awesome. I had several patients have their family bring in presents for my wife and soon to be born son. In addition many become close friends and love to hook you up with all kinds of awesome stuff (whether you want it or not).

 

[astarblaze]

I'm not a PT, but I'm currently observing 3 different PTs in an orthopedic, acute care, and SNF setting. All of them seem to love their jobs. The ortho PT has pretty strong relationships with many of the patients she works with (she sometimes sees people repeatedly of the course of years), and it's literally a blast to hang out with her and the patients as they do therapy and see progress in getting better. One of the highlights of my week. The acute care PT has been practicing for 25+ years in the same hospital and also clearly loves his job and is AWESOME at it. Patients routinely tell him that they want to take him home with them when they leave the hospital. (I imagine getting that sort of feedback has got to feel good.) The SNF PT is slightly less psyched about the field in general (for the common medical field reasons- paperwork, insurance limiting what care can be given, etc), but has a pretty good gig as well- the environment is super low-stress, some of the patients he works with are really interesting older folks with fun stories, and it's cool to see patients heal over the course of weeks of therapy. Plus he gets to deal with interesting medical cases (like doing wound care on a patient with some cool new state-of-the-art synthetic wound-healing stuff over their injury) and have a ton of autonomy in what he does. And he goes home by like 4pm every day. Sometimes as early as 1pm on Fridays.

There are plenty of PTs out there who love their jobs. 🙂

 

[DesertPT]

By all means stop reading message boards.

The overall level of pessimism in my life has been substantially reduced by only visiting this website a couple times per month.

 

[DesertPT]

So can some people who really love their job give some positive perspectives?

 

[wanderlustpt]

Hi guys,

So I just got accepted into PT school, and am starting in June. Lately I have been seeing a lot of people who are unhappy with the profession. Unhappy with billing, unhappy with pay, I saw that SNF thread too. So can some people who really love their job give some positive perspectives? I picked this career path because I thought it would be something I enjoy, not for money.

Many great points listed above. For what its worth, here's my two cents

You get to meet so many interesting people! Everyone has a story - we're really lucky in that our profession allows us to learn more about our patients than just their diagnoses. Here are just a few examples of some fascinating stories my patients have shared with me: touring with two of the most famous rock n' roll groups the world has ever known, rescuing POWs from Korea, serving as a 1st responder in the 9/11 attacks, competing in the 2012 Olympics, & the list goes on for miles... (No HIPAA violations there, right?) 😵 A lot of times, if I had simply treated my patients and never asked questions abut where they grew up and what they enjoy doing I never would have learned these things.

Treasure the relationships you create as a PT.