Really questioning PT as a career. Confused

[jrock89]

I have done all my pre req work, hours and have gotten a decent GRE score with completed apps. Now I as I am about to send everything in, I am getting second thoughts. Here are some concerns I have now that didn't bother me before, but they are really getting to me as time goes by.

1. Loans. As I browse through these forums and through the internet, I find that the average salary of PT's is 50k-60k out of school. These seems pretty ridiculous considering the education and schooling we have to too. My friend that has worked at chase bank after high school makes that amount and he never graduated college. He works as a personal banker. Seems hard to believe that I would be making the same salary as him and I would have way more debt to pay.

2. The work life. The clinic I was working at, the PTA/Techs did most of the work. The PT's just sat there writing notes and waiting for the patients to be done so that they could do manual manipulation on them. I thought PT was about 1 on 1. Not having hordes of patients do their exercises by themselves and work on them later.

3. Hours. Some PT's I have talked to work 50-60 hours for 50-70k of salary. This doesnt seem to be worth it to me.

4. Respect. A lot of people think when I say I am going to go to PT school, they think of a personal trainer. I tell them that I graduated with a KIN degree and they think I am a PE teacher. Just seems like we don't get acknowledged or respect yet.

I am just really scared that when I go to PT school, I will regret it. I will regret not going the pharmacy route, PA route or another route where the money is certainly better but I find myself enjoying doing what PT's do. I guess that is what is most important but not when I am eating tuna cans and cup ramen for 5 years to pay off my loans because my salary is complete trash compared to the educational costs. Once again I am just nervous that I will regret my decision to go to PT school and pursue this career even though I enjoyed working as a tech and what PT's do. I could just use some advice from PT's on this forum and their insight on their lifestyle, work life, salary and how comfortable they are on that salary.

P.S Why do physical therapist get paid so little for the amount of education we have to do? Nurses get paid almost as much as us and other professions that only require a bachelors. This is what I am curious about. It seems that most health care grad school professions get paid ~90+ (PA, VETs, DO, Pharmacists, MDs,). Why do we get gimped on the money?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Kechara]

Hi. Not sure which part of the world you are in, but I thought I would share my views on the matter. Where I am, PT school can cost in the low to mid $20K range for the entire degree, which is at the masters level. This is in addition to whatever you paid for your bachelors degree, probably another $20-30K. That is about $40-$50K to make $50-$60k. I have seen other healthcare professions that have lower salaries with higher tuition costs. Add to it that the job prospects of PTs seem to be really good, and you have another plus for the return on investment.

Most PTs where I am get $25-$45 per hour salaried. The ones that run their own clinic have a much higher earning potential. The self-employed ones will likely put a lot of hours into their business, but the value of being your own boss makes it worth it. The fact that a PT has the option to make a stable salary at a decent rate or venture into entrepreneurialism is another nice bonus as a career choice.

Never underestimate the value of high job satisfaction. While money is important, not liking what you do will grate on you in the worst ways over the years. I have been on many forums for other health care professionals and they report significant levels of stress and frustration, leading to burn out and ultimately leaving the profession. I have not heard of this happening to a PT yet.

In my experience, people do respect and appreciate PT. PT school is just as hard (if not harder) to get into as medical school. They are very knowledgeable in how the body moves, functions, and heals. Your patients value and appreciate you. I don't see how anyone could turn their nose up at it.

I think you will find that you can have a comfortable lifestyle as a PT. Such things mean different things to different people, but unless you are trying to keep up with the Jones, you shouldn't have to be struggling to survive. The job prospects and opportunities are such that you will be gainfully employed. The other professions with higher income come with higher tuition costs, higher stress levels, and lower job satisfaction. You may also find that their lifestyles are on par with that of a PT due to the same. Most importantly, you will not dread going to work everyday. You would be surprised at how many RNs, PAs, MDs, DOs, Vets, DMDs, and other high-salaried healthcare professionals would opt for the PT work life over their own. When I look at all of the other options out there, PT really comes out on top on many levels.

That was a lot of verbal vomit at 6 am, but I hope I said something useful. Good luck with your career choice.

 

[jblil]

Never underestimate the value of high job satisfaction. While money is important, not liking what you do will grate on you in the worst ways over the years.

^ This.

OP - Physical Therapy will be my 4th career. I have made a lot more money in previous lines of work, but I was very unhappy. Unhappy to the point of having sinister thoughts... I think you know what it means...

When I was younger, I was quite focused on financial rewards. Now that I know better, I put my wealth in my head and in my heart, where nobody and no outside circumstances (stock market crashes, wars) can steal it away from me.

It's a journey we have to make at our own pace. But I think that sooner or later, we will all get to the same conclusions: money is not everything in life.

 

[Kechara]

Thanks jblil! I am in a similar boat. My first job gave me six-figures, but I was very depressed and my marriage suffered. Being happy where you work is so important, and I believe you can make any salary work and still have a high quality of life if your happiness is coming from internal sources.

^ This.

OP - Physical Therapy will be my 4th career. I have made a lot more money in previous lines of work, but I was very unhappy. Unhappy to the point of having sinister thoughts... I think you know what it means...

When I was younger, I was quite focused on financial rewards. Now that I know better, I put my wealth in my head and in my heart, where nobody and no outside circumstances (stock market crashes, wars) can steal it away from me.

It's a journey we have to make at our own pace. But I think that sooner or later, we will all get to the same conclusions: money is not everything in life.

 

[okramango]

Now that I know better, I put my wealth in my head and in my heart, where nobody and no outside circumstances (stock market crashes, wars) can steal it away from me.

 

[Akiramay]

While there are some clinics where PTs hand their patients off to PTAs/aides, I accepted my job partly because there were no aides, so I knew I was going to have that one on one time with my patients, which is very important to me. While I do stay 30 min-1 hr later on busier days, they make up for themselves when I have patients cancel or reschedule their appointments and I either have free time during the day or I can leave a bit earlier. I have to agree with everyone about having job satisfaction. You are going to have to work for a long time, you better love what you do! Sure your friend who is a personal banker makes the same amount as you, but would you really want to do that job for the rest of your life? As far as PT recognition, that is something I see improving. A lot of my neighbors congratulate me because they know how hard PT school is. Many of my patients also recognize the level of skill we can provide for them. I think it's all about seeing the glass half empty and not half full. Sure some of the other professions make more money with the same amount of schooling and loans as us, but I do not want to do those things. If you know where your heart is, you'll know which route to follow.

 

[djb051]

I volunteer at a PT clinic where the PT's are with each patient for most of their treatment sessions (usually around 40 mins/treatment, longer for evals). There are also no aides/techs at this clinic so PT's do spend much more time with their patients. So like the above poster mentioned, not all clinics are the same, and there are so many PT jobs out there that you will have more flexibility with choosing what clinics you want to work at.

 

[silverwolf]

I recently started volunteering at a local outpatient PT clinic in my area (SoCal). I've only been there one time for a couple hours but I already really like the work environment. There are two PTs who work there and co-own the clinic together. They each work three or four days a week, one on different days than the other, 7a-7p. There are no PTAs (that I've seen) but two aides, not sure how often they come in, but there was one working with the PT the day I was there.

Every 30 min, we get two patients who come in. Most patients have sports related injuries and I saw a couple geriatric patients. I enjoyed interacting with the PT working that day, he was very friendly and introduced me to each patient and their "story" of why they were in need of therapy. I also really enjoyed talking with the patients and helping out with little tasks (giving patients hot towels, etc).

The PT told me that he's been practicing for 15+ years and he has his master's in PT. He recommended the career as it's very flexible, pays decently, and is very satisfying. I got a very good impression from my experience and I'm excited to learn more about the field. I am working on getting some experience at an inpatient setting since I know it's a different experience, but I'm feeling optimistic.

I know the ROI is generally known to not be that great and PT students (especially in CA) face a lot of debt coming out of school, but at the end of the day, you can't put a price on job satisfaction. I rather be happy at the job I will be spending 40-50 hrs/week at than have the lifestyle of other healthcare providers who pay off their debt quickly but sacrifice a lot family time, health, etc for their job. We all have different priorities/values and for me, I feel like PT offers a good balance of what I'm looking for.

 

[TheOx777]

Check your PM box!

 

[s402651]

I have done all my pre req work, hours and have gotten a decent GRE score with completed apps. Now I as I am about to send everything in, I am getting second thoughts. Here are some concerns I have now that didn't bother me before, but they are really getting to me as time goes by.

1. Loans. As I browse through these forums and through the internet, I find that the average salary of PT's is 50k-60k out of school. These seems pretty ridiculous considering the education and schooling we have to too. My friend that has worked at chase bank after high school makes that amount and he never graduated college. He works as a personal banker. Seems hard to believe that I would be making the same salary as him and I would have way more debt to pay.

2. The work life. The clinic I was working at, the PTA/Techs did most of the work. The PT's just sat there writing notes and waiting for the patients to be done so that they could do manual manipulation on them. I thought PT was about 1 on 1. Not having hordes of patients do their exercises by themselves and work on them later.

3. Hours. Some PT's I have talked to work 50-60 hours for 50-70k of salary. This doesnt seem to be worth it to me.

4. Respect. A lot of people think when I say I am going to go to PT school, they think of a personal trainer. I tell them that I graduated with a KIN degree and they think I am a PE teacher. Just seems like we don't get acknowledged or respect yet.

I am just really scared that when I go to PT school, I will regret it. I will regret not going the pharmacy route, PA route or another route where the money is certainly better but I find myself enjoying doing what PT's do. I guess that is what is most important but not when I am eating tuna cans and cup ramen for 5 years to pay off my loans because my salary is complete trash compared to the educational costs. Once again I am just nervous that I will regret my decision to go to PT school and pursue this career even though I enjoyed working as a tech and what PT's do. I could just use some advice from PT's on this forum and their insight on their lifestyle, work life, salary and how comfortable they are on that salary.

P.S Why do physical therapist get paid so little for the amount of education we have to do? Nurses get paid almost as much as us and other professions that only require a bachelors. This is what I am curious about. It seems that most health care grad school professions get paid ~90+ (PA, VETs, DO, Pharmacists, MDs,). Why do we get gimped on the money?

I am sorry to disagree with you about PT as a career, but I don't think you should disrespect the physical educators out there that are teaching our youth. Having my undergraduate degree in PE doesn't take away from my intelligence. I took that to be a very rude remark.

 

[FCE]

You are worrying too much. Just do it!

 

[FCE]

You are worrying too much. Just do it!

By the way, I specialize in solely performing FCE's in San Juan and I'm making around $150,000 a year after taxes. The downside is that it only took me 26 years as a PT to be were I am. Good luck.