I'm having second thoughts about DPT school

[DTOWN]

Hey guys,

I have a question for current DPT students, PT's, PTA's and anyone else out there that has a good knowledge of the professional world of Physical Therapy.

Recently I was accepted into DPT school. I've already denied one school, and am on the verge of having to make another decision again. I used to be super enthusiastic about physical therapy until I started seeing the ugly side of it, and working as a tech in various clinics. Some clinics were fun, but others were extremely boring and not challenging.

I like sports a LOT. I find a lot of passion in it, especially being a former college athlete. I love working out and helping people exercise, but, physical therapy hasn't been all what I thought it was going to be. My ideal job in PT would be working as a Physical Therapist/Personal Trainer/Strength Coach, and helping not only people with injuries, but also preventative injury work as well. I love working with active populations and people that aren't EXTREMELY limited in range of motion or people that are super unfit.

One person I really like is Jeff Cavalierre, the founder of Athlean X. I look up to his work and kinda inspire to be similar to him. Is it realistic to look into a possible profession such as that? Are the chances of getting to his level slim to none? I'd like information so that I could make an informed decision about whether to continue with my physical therapy education.

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[SR_DPT]

Hey guys,

I have a question for current DPT students, PT's, PTA's and anyone else out there that has a good knowledge of the professional world of Physical Therapy.

Recently I was accepted into DPT school. I've already denied one school, and am on the verge of having to make another decision again. I used to be super enthusiastic about physical therapy until I started seeing the ugly side of it, and working as a tech in various clinics. Some clinics were fun, but others were extremely boring and not challenging.

I like sports a LOT. I find a lot of passion in it, especially being a former college athlete. I love working out and helping people exercise, but, physical therapy hasn't been all what I thought it was going to be. My ideal job in PT would be working as a Physical Therapist/Personal Trainer/Strength Coach, and helping not only people with injuries, but also preventative injury work as well. I love working with active populations and people that aren't EXTREMELY limited in range of motion or people that are super unfit.

One person I really like is Jeff Cavalierre, the founder of Athlean X. I look up to his work and kinda inspire to be similar to him. Is it realistic to look into a possible profession such as that? Are the chances of getting to his level slim to none? I'd like information so that I could make an informed decision about whether to continue with my physical therapy education.

You don’t necessarily have to work for a clinic. You can always start your own practice like Jeff and you can make the clinic to be whatever you want it to be. You don’t have to settle.

 

[Tavi09]

You could make your own clinic, but at the end of the day, what you describe as "boring" is the core of PT. PT's rehabilitate people. To me, it sounds like you want to be a personal trainer. People often confuse physical therapists for personal trainers. They are completely different professions.

 

[SPTKK]

What about an athletic trainer? Or a strength and conditioning coach? Or both? In my senior year we had a series of guest lectures and one of them was a strength and conditioning coach. He worked with various varsity sports teams at the university and designed their workouts (focus on prevention of injury), helped them work out, build strength, etc. Sounded like a cool job however, the pay is not great. Unless you work the Alabama football team or something lol.

But athletic training would also be a good option!

 

[DTOWN]

You could make your own clinic, but at the end of the day, what you describe as "boring" is the core of PT. PT's rehabilitate people. To me, it sounds like you want to be a personal trainer. People often confuse physical therapists for personal trainers. They are completely different professions.

I'm a personal trainer right now, but I can't see myself staying strictly as a trainer for the rest of my life. The stability in the job and the pay aren't enough to survive. Personally, the reason I chose Physical Therapy was because I liked the amount of education, and the knowledge you get by going through with it. It applies to so many other directions and fields, and by doing pre-physical therapy I've really gained a lot of knowledge already, now I want to expand upon it.

On the other hand, I misused "boring." I don't find rehab itself to be boring, I actually really like it. But what I found boring were the certain settings I observed, especially the settings I want to go towards - Ortho. At the moment, my preferred setting would probably have to be Sports Medicine. However, I've worked in Outpatient Ortho clinics, and I can't say they were very exciting. They also were very stressful. The client load being every 30 minutes the ENTIRE day from 8-5 just seems so exhausting.

What about an athletic trainer? Or a strength and conditioning coach? Or both? In my senior year we had a series of guest lectures and one of them was a strength and conditioning coach. He worked with various varsity sports teams at the university and designed their workouts (focus on prevention of injury), helped them work out, build strength, etc. Sounded like a cool job however, the pay is not great. Unless you work the Alabama football team or something lol.

But athletic training would also be a good option!

As for AT's, and strength coaching, I chose not to go down that path for a reason. First, the pay is not worth what you have to do, even though I like the fact they are around sports.

This whole conflict also started when I started considering PA school as well. Do any of ya'll have any knowledge of PA school too?

 

[DTOWN]

Also the biggest question I have is about finance.

Is 80k of debt worth the major?

I already owe 20k, so we're looking at 100k of debt when I graduate grad school.

To me, there's a cost to everything. And going that far in debt for a job with a median salary of ~80K doesn't seem worth it.

 

[DPTTELl]

Also the biggest question I have is about finance.

Is 80k of debt worth the major?

I already owe 20k, so we're looking at 100k of debt when I graduate grad school.

To me, there's a cost to everything. And going that far in debt for a job with a median salary of ~80K doesn't seem worth it.

It seems like PT is definetly not for you. grad school is expensive no matter what field you decide to go towards to. Yeah as a PT you won’t be making as much as you would like as soon as you graduate, but at least you know as a PT you will have a job right out of school. I know PTs that started making 3 figures after their first year of practice. Off course they were flexible and didn’t mind relocating. At this point it seems like you are trying to find something that makes you money and this is one of those professions where you really have to love what you do no matter how much it pays. If you want to make lots of money go to medical school sports medicine seems like the right field for you. It will take more time and money but the return will also be much higher.

 

[arit25]

Hey guys,

I have a question for current DPT students, PT's, PTA's and anyone else out there that has a good knowledge of the professional world of Physical Therapy.

Recently I was accepted into DPT school. I've already denied one school, and am on the verge of having to make another decision again. I used to be super enthusiastic about physical therapy until I started seeing the ugly side of it, and working as a tech in various clinics. Some clinics were fun, but others were extremely boring and not challenging.

I like sports a LOT. I find a lot of passion in it, especially being a former college athlete. I love working out and helping people exercise, but, physical therapy hasn't been all what I thought it was going to be. My ideal job in PT would be working as a Physical Therapist/Personal Trainer/Strength Coach, and helping not only people with injuries, but also preventative injury work as well. I love working with active populations and people that aren't EXTREMELY limited in range of motion or people that are super unfit.

One person I really like is Jeff Cavalierre, the founder of Athlean X. I look up to his work and kinda inspire to be similar to him. Is it realistic to look into a possible profession such as that? Are the chances of getting to his level slim to none? I'd like information so that I could make an informed decision about whether to continue with my physical therapy education.

Hey! I personally have a very similar dream to yours which I am still holding onto after going through 2 application cycles and potentially entering my 3rd! I value the education and expertise therapists like Jeff cavalier has (he’s one of my inspos too!) but it’s easy to get discouraged when you work in settings where therapists may not like their job because they’re being burnt out by all the patients they see in a day or the setting just doesn’t seem stimulating enough. I’m also big into sports but I still strongly feel that if I keep pursuing my vision, I will end up like Jeff cavalier eventually! And there’s other people that are similar to him that I follow on social media whom
I aspire to be like (check out prehabguys and strengthcoachtherapy on instagram) and following them just gives me more motivation to keep pushing. Don’t give up if this has been your passion, in the end your education and profession is what YOU set it out to be.

 

[DTOWN]

It seems like PT is definetly not for you. grad school is expensive no matter what field you decide to go towards to. Yeah as a PT you won’t be making as much as you would like as soon as you graduate, but at least you know as a PT you will have a job right out of school. I know PTs that started making 3 figures after their first year of practice. Off course they were flexible and didn’t mind relocating. At this point it seems like you are trying to find something that makes you money and this is one of those professions where you really have to love what you do no matter how much it pays. If you want to make lots of money go to medical school sports medicine seems like the right field for you. It will take more time and money but the return will also be much higher.

I mean I like therapy, but salary and cost is just as important to me. I've lived in a family that struggled financially, with lots of student debt as well. All my father would keep saying to me is "student debt sucks, limit it as much as possible." Granted, he had kids and a family to support while going through school, BUT still...

I would be comfortable going to school for PT if it meant making more money starting salary than how much I went into debt. But with a lot of the out of state schools I've gotten into, they are exponentially higher cost. I read an article on forbes that uses this formula to calculate if school is too highly priced.

Undergraduate debt + grad school debt - first year's salary
Lets assume I go to the out of state school that just offered me a spot... (20k + 80k - 65k) = 35k surplus of debt.

Undergrad Debt + Grad School Debt > First year salary

Best quote I read:
"Good rule of thumb: You should borrow no more than you can repay in 10 years or than you can repay before you retire." "If this particular degree and field doesn't pass those guidelines, that doesn't necessarily mean you should skip grad school. Maybe look into a different type of degree that will increase your earnings enough to justify the cost, or find another way to fund tuition to reduce debt."