r/physicaltherapy

My younger siblings and younger family members have already surpassed my earning potential with lesser years in school and lesser years post grad.

Their careers have futures, have opportunities, have amazing and growing benefits.

Whereas I am stuck treating low back pain until I retire, with no career advancement possible, no earning potential, no benefits ever possible. Whereas I literally have no future.

Fellow PTs, how do I cope with this??? (Serious)

This might piss some people off and I get it that a lot of subreddits are negative but the constant complaints about how fucked the profession are pathetic. I am writing this for all of the students in PT school and undergrad who stumble upon these. I remember reading all of these posts about how horrible documentation is, how underpaid we all are, how you will never be able to recover from the debt, unrealistic productivity standards, etc. All of these “I wish I could go back and tell myself to just do something else” is pathetic. Every single thing that is mentioned has answers. If you are overburdened by productivity and underpaid, leave. If you have issues with loans, get with a repayment plan, join a PSLF eligible place or apply to the VA. If you hate talking to people, do home health, you barely have to talk. Its like half of you expect some sort of fucking euphoria coming from doing your job everyday. Some people here actually wake up excited to go to work, and that's the minority just like almost every job. Everyone frothing over tech likely don't the volatility of it. It is already oversaturated. Unless you know people or get lucky it is so unpredictable trying to maintain a stable job. As a PT you can travel, you can get a job in any city you want in any setting as long as you are patient and work hard and also there are plenty of avenues to leave the profession and make money. You can find easy gigs or extremely demanding gigs. AI pretty much writes your notes for you and it will only get better. There is a part of me that is burnt out and that shit is real, but I think that burnout that a lot of people in here talk about is not so specific to this profession. A lot of it is just being in your 20s and early 30s and everyone's jobs are getting a little shittier it sounds like, but the point is if you don’t like where you are then leave to another clinic, another hospital, another area you can afford, start your own thing. I know most people in here would be just as miserable behind a desk doing bullshit that isn’t actually helping people. You aren’t a victim and I say that with love.

-3 year PT thats been through a Ortho residency that took advantage of me and then underpaid at private OP and a place i am bored so I am considering doing in-patient

Hey all. This is partially a rant and partially looking for advice. I work at an outpatient orthopedic pelvic floor clinic. We’ve recently changed our late cancel/no show policy to be more strict. We charge 100 dollars for last minute cancels (less than 24 hours) but give patients the option to do a telehealth visit instead. We inform patients of this policy in their written paperwork, on the phone when they’re scheduling and verbally again in their first appointment. Even with that, we have a lot of push back from mad patients and/or people opting for telehealth last minute with poor participation (camera off, barely speaking, in their car or somewhere else they cannot actually actively participate). It’s getting frustrating and burning me out. However, if I don’t enforce this policy, I end up having weird gaps in the day with people on the waitlist who didn’t have enough time to pick up an appointment. I’m curious what other clinics have tried and what has worked for them and what hasn’t because this has been draining.

PT here with first PTA student when he gave his presentation on LBP listed presssups as an option for bulging/herniated disk. At the end, when asked "ANY QUESTIONS?" another PT gave feedback if bulging posteriorly it would be painful so dont do that. I understand if more severe tread lightly only continue if better after. My ortho prof. was a Mckenzie guy, so maybe i am out of current practice or something. IMO not worth telling student they are wrong for stating it as an option with no case specifically.

Anyone watch Beef season 2 on Netflix? Thoughts on the representation of PT?

Has any physical therapist or PTA ever wanted to leave healthcare or pivot careers? This is coming from someone trying to do a career switch but only got an undergrad degree kin ,just genuinely interested . and why?

Does anyone watch any medical shows here? Situations like being asked by preceptors questions and immediately having answers to all questions asked. Does this happen irl??? I'm curious because I tend to stop & think for a moment..sometimes minutes when my CI asks me questions.... am I the only one?? 😅 I know its too unrealistic to have all answers at the top of your head but I'm expected to be quick to answer question 🙂‍↕️

Seriously considering jumping at the first outpatient position in my organization because I just don’t know how much longer I can continue in acute care. I have outpatient experience. But I’ve been in acute for long enough to know that I’ve forgotten the worst part of it. Fully prepared to be talked into the move or out of the move.

Hello! I am 4 years out and am due with my first baby in August. I’m looking to get out of outpatient ortho due to feeling stuck in my career and not happy. I’m looking to go hybrid or remote and potentially increase my pay/increase my ceiling for pay. What are my options for these type of jobs that I could qualify for without returning back to school? I don’t need to stay in the healthcare field! TIA

I'm looking to see if anybody else is planning to relocate to another country and escape the dystopia that is the crumbling United States (healthcare) system.

How long was your process ?

How long have you been in that country? How do you feel about the change now?

Any recommendations for those in progress ? Any regrets?

Planning on relocating to Vancouver Island, BC from the US with my dogs next year. Been in progress since last August. Happy to answer any questions also, although I'm an OT not a PT (I figured there's more of you than the OT subreddit, hope that's ok)

I know enough and I know better than to say the specifics. I’m just at a particular low point after essentially getting assaulted -again -today. Acute care. i’m just bouncing around in my head between. I can’t be the only one and but this can’t possibly be something everybody’s putting up with. I am not a new graduate. I don’t know what is going on right now.

As a Physical Therapist working in a professional environment would visible tattoos cause difficulty finding employment? I'm considering a career change and would like to go back to school to become a Physical Therapist. However, I have full sleeves and a hand tattoo. Nothing inappropriate, just an octopus with a giant eye. Before committing I want to be sure my tattoos won't prevent me from building a career, or even getting through school. I do live in Southern California and do not plan on leaving.

Short version: My family is moving to a rural area, and I have the opportunity to take an inpatient position with better pay, benefits, flexibility and autonomy than the outpatient options I have, but I have enjoyed working in outpatient ortho for the last 11 years, am good at it, and know very little about inpatient and whether I would like it.

Questions:

• What should I expect my day-to-day will be like an inpatient position in a small rural hospital (a mix of ER patients, post op, and acute care)?
• What should I do to prepare?
• For those of you who have made the switch to inpatient after many years enjoying outpatient orthopedic care, have you regretted it or has it been a good move?

Thank you!

---

The long version:

My family (me, husband, and young son) is relocating from a large western US city to a smaller, more rural area in the northeast to be closer to our extended family. I currently have verbal offers from two outpatient clinics and one hospital (inpatient role). To my surprise, the inpatient role has merged as my favorite for the following reasons:

• Good pay. I would earn my current annual salary for fewer hours (32 vs 36) plus $10,000 signing bonus
• Good benefits. Despite being a small community based hospital, it is under the umbrella of a larger non profit hospital system which means all the perks (health care, 403b match, dependant savings account) at the lowest overall cost to me vs. the others
• Stability. My husband works in a notoriously unpredictable field (biotech), so working for a larger organization with a high need for PT (they have a shortage right now) would give us some piece of mind
• Flexibility and autonomy. The current rehab team is very independent and supportive of each other. I could mostly set my schedule as long as patient needs are met, which means I could spend more time with my son and be there when he needs me (school pick up, drop off, etc)
• Possibility for splitting my time with the hospital's outpatient clinic in a year or two, which would allow me to retain my skills in both settings

The only cons I see (which is where I need advice or reassurance)

• I haven't worked inpatient since I was a student, which means I'd have a lot to learn and am not sure if I would enjoy the patient care as much (it would be a mix of same-day post op ortho eval/discharge, ER patients, and inpatient beds)
• I might lose some of my outpatient skills (manual, dry needling, etc) and fall behind on the latest evidence

In comparison, the two outpatient clinics (both PT owned) are polar opposite of each other, and neither are great. One could offer good pay and benefits, excellent mentorship, high quality practitioners, evidence based care, but would demand a lot (90% productivity standard and a reputation of being "a factory"). The other is more laid back, but couldn't pay me as much and doesn't provide healthcare (!) which is kind of a non starter for me.

About me: Since I graduated PT school 11 years ago, I have worked for a large non profit healthcare organization in a hospital-based outpatient orthopedic clinic. I have my OCS and am dry needling certified. I've been lucky to work under reasonable productivity standards, one-on-one treatments, no aides, hour evals, and I've always really enjoyed ortho. However, I've also really enjoyed my neuro, geriatric, and post op patients, so I think there's a lot of inpatient I would enjoy.

New grad PTA looking for rehab companies in Fairfield County - in the Norwalk/Stamford/Greenwich area. I am new to CT from NYC, so i don't have much insight on companies here. Any companies to recommend or avoid?

I'd love to work inpatient/acute care but am willing to work outpatient as well!

Between state licenses, CPR renewals, continuing education requirements, and facility-specific credentials — keeping track of everything is a full-time job.

I've been exploring AI-based tools that can read documents automatically and track expiration dates. Curious what other PTs use to stay on top of it all.

Spreadsheets? Calendar reminders? A specific app?

Hi all. So I'm a "new grad" (late 2023) and am just now able to take a PTA job (family issues). I just did 7 days at a SNF and noped out of there so fast- l've never had my mental health tank that quickly.

Insanely unattainable productivity goals (I forgot productivity was a thing- they don't mention it much in school) and just severely understaffed (which I get is a thing most places). I've been crying and depressed and contemplating why I ever got this degree. Now that I'm in a slightly better headspace, I feel like I shouldn't throw in the towel without trying at least one other setting. Based on clinicals, OP is not for me. I did an inpatient hospital rehab rotation and enjoyed that. Would an acute setting be similar? My main questions are these:

-I've been out of the game for a while and realllly need to spend some time studying to feel more confident (I currently have maybe 10% confidence in myself for pt education) - best bang for my buck study wise for an acute setting? Main things I should focus my studies on (outside of hip/spinal/ sternal precautions and I'll go over amputees & strokes as well)?

-are productivity goals in acute as diabolical as SNF??

-Is there generally a mentorship program for new grads or do they just throw ya to the wolves (I'd love to shadow experienced therapists for a couple of weeks before being released to full caseload alone)

-caseload size reasonable/achievable? I know this will vary, but your experience?

-I've been reading Reddit all week and fear I know my answer- is it this bad everywhere?! | just want to be a great and skilled PTA providing quality treatments without insane arbitrary goals. How can I be this bitter after 7 total days in my "career?" And yes, I'm feeling sorry for myself a little bit and can handle criticism, but not what I just experienced (& l've read plenty of SNF posts- not for me). Thinking about leaving the field already…

I recently got 2 offers, one is inpatient with a salary of 86k and the other is outpatient for 88k. Are these competitive salaries and should I try to negotiate?

I'm looking at a major career change (yes I understand the costs of school and range of salaries. I'm fortunate to have the GI Bill to assist), but I was wondering how difficult it is to find salaried jobs as a DPT after graduation? I'd like to get an salaried position in inpatient pediatric care or work with spinal cord injuries in the Atlanta or Charlotte area.

Is it worth it for someone to do a residency with those goals?

Thanks!

Hey everyone, I’m about to enter my first year of DPT studies in a few weeks and am starting the process of taking out loans. I was advised to wait until the end of April from my department so I can see what I receive from FAFSA. However, the best student loans I’m able to get from the government are at 9% for what limited $ they will disburse. Otherwise, the rest is in the private range of 12-13% which I will refinance after graduating. All in all, I’m looking at taking out about 150k and with 10-year loan terms this will be >225k. I love working in this field so far, and originally was able to stomach this amount, but now that I’m this close, I’m petrified of what this will due to my future finances. I want a home, kids, and to travel, but I currently feel like even if I marry a partner willing to help, we are doomed.