Pre-PT worry, Non-Trad seeking advice.

[FederalBanana]

Good evening all,

I wanted to vent about some worries I have after my choice to pursue this profession. I am not currently in PT school, I am 25 and have been studying for my MCAT the past year while working on the side. I was fairly certain I wanted to go into the MD/DO/PA field as I went along. This was hindered as I saw the amount of things they learned in which I simply was not interested in, not to mention the autonomy of those professions when it comes to life and death decisions stressed me the hell out. I was always interested in the function of the body, why we hurt and ache, the anatomy and physiology behind our bodies, how fitness can help and hinder us etc... I shadowed chiropractors but it simply never seemed right to me, not the right fit (my introspection on that topic is poor). I never really thought about PT until I ruptured my T7-8 disk and started to see a PT. This was an outpatient clinic and as I talked to my PT about my issues and how we could address them and we went down a rabbit-hole of conversation. In the end I was very drawn in by the conversation. I began to shadow more and here I am.

So, my questions are more so in concern to the profession and how it may be affected down the road. I am not really concerned about the debt when I had previously considered teaching psychology when I was 20, knowing I would need at least a masters or Phd with some professors making less then 50K and having mountains of debt. While PT's also have mountains of debt they typically make a good wage (in my opinion, which google anyway says nationally is 86,000). I think debt as well as salary is relative if you do not feel the need to keep up with the Jones's. I am concerned with how it will be impacted in the future, will healthcare make it less accessible to everyone, will certifications or possible training programs for PA's, chiropractors impact PT's? These might be naive questions, but if I do not ask I will continue to see it in a naive manner so... be nice.

Secondly, how does being out of school impact me? I worked several small jobs after college to see what I wanted to pursue, cognitive skills training, dog training, teaching, real estate, and have been working warehouse management for the past two years. I had a fairly decent undergrad resume with a 3.8/4.0, and 3.42sGPA. I worked as a medical scribe when in school, and had other good extracurricular such as being the president of our psychology club, psychology TA, cognitive science research, etc.. (the same **** a lot of more qualified people then me have done, with better grades). With that said, since I am out of school I worry the achievements I had in school will not be taken into account. Opinions on this?

Any other words of wisdom or tidbits of advice?

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[Indigogo]

There's a lot to cover here, but I'm going to offer one piece of advice out of the many questions you asked. I'm a recently graduated PT working my first job out of school, for reference.

You should be concerned about the debt.

Prior to starting grad school, it doesn't seem real, or at least doesn't seem to matter much. You'll make a comfortable though not lavish salary, and will probably have pretty good job satisfaction (I do, at the very least). But the debt is real now, much more so than it seemed when I started. I like my career as a PT, but the reality of the situation is that it doesn't pay as much as it should when you compare it to the financial cost required to get the education. I have short-term goals for my life that I don't think are outrageous (get married, replace my horribly beat up car, hopefully buy a house someday); that's all on hold right now, and will be for a while because of my debt. And I chose a moderately-priced school.

I know this leaves a lot of your post unaddressed, and hopefully others can provide some input on your other questions. But I feel like I need to do my part to make the realities of after-school debt abundantly clear to everyone pursuing PT as a career. Even if you don't choose PT, I urge you to strongly consider taking the path of least financial cost towards your career objective and realize how crippling student loans can become for some.

 

[slow_twitch]

Poster above said it like it needs to be said. Debt is a problem and until PT’s start making more, it will be a concern especially if you get into a school that cost a lot but you can work with it provided you live in a manner that is appropriate, but still hard.
Accessibility is always tough as insurance can create a stranglehold on people getting care and how much they will reimburse us for services so it’s always a game. One the APTA will keep trying to work with and navigate but also it’s about how well you can sell your services by the care you deliver. Other areas of healthcare can all have parts that overlap but in their primary areas they can’t be beat so make sure you do that well and it will be fine. In the end it’s the buyer who will make the decision on who they see so provide a service that makes them feel valued and it’s all you can do.
PT is awesome and I am glad I am going into the field. I am also a non-traditional that changed from another healthcare field. It is a great field to connect with people so if you like working with people for 30-60 minutes than its great. If that’s too much, choose something with less patient contact time

 

[ya1]

No way PTs will run out of jobs in the nearest 50 years: there always will be injuries and illnesses that will require rehab. Rules and laws regarding PT will change, we will adjust to them and keep doing our jobs.
Doesn't matter that you were out of school for a little bit. Some schools do require your prereqs to be taken within the last 5 years though.
Your GPA is quite average. Yes, there are people who have much better GPA than yours, but there are also plenty of people who have GPA in low 3.0 s who get to PT schools and successfully graduate from them. So do not belittle your achievements!
Yes, I have student loan debt and it does not cause any sacrifices in my lifestyle.