Term Paper: Physical Therapy

John Keddington
12/1/2015
Bus-1010
Like most fields in healthcare the main purpose of physical therapy is to improve
the health and lives of the patients. Physical Therapy is a very broad field that helps
patients both prevent and manage their conditions. Physical Therapy focuses on the body
and helping people improve their mobility whether it be gross motor skills such as
walking or fine motor skills such as writing. Each patient is different and each situation
requires the physical therapist to create a personalized plan and walk the patient through
recovery step by step.

Within the field of Physical Therapy there is a wide range of types of patients one
can work with and each type of patient requires a varied type of physical Therapy. One
of the more common types of physical Therapy is Orthopedic Therapy which focuses on
the muscles and tissues and is often used for sports injuries or injuries due to surgery or
chronic disease.

Another type of Therapy is wound care, which is for necrotic wounds and other
wounds that are not healing properly. It focuses on increasing blood circulation and
making sure the wound is receiving sufficient oxygen. It also involves cleaning the
wounds and sometimes, electrical stimulation. Pediatric Therapy focuses on children and
those who are often born with a chronic disease or a neurological disorder. Pediatric

Therapists focus on helping children connect with their environment and increase
strength, movement, and coordination.

Cardiopulmonary Therapy focuses on strengthening the heart and is for patients

who have suffered a heart attack or something similar. They mainly work with building
stamina and exercising the patients. Vestibular Therapy helps those who have damaged
their inner ear and are struggling with balance and coordination. It helps the patients
bodies adjust to the new signals coming from their inner ear and improves their
coordination and mobility.

Geriatric Therapy focuses on older patients who are struggling due to arthritis,
weakened bones, and other challenges that come with age. It helps improve movement
and reduce pain. Decongestive Therapy focuses on patient with edema or problems with
lymph nodes. These diseases can lead to build up of fluid in different parts of the body
that causes pain and the therapists use compression and exercise to reduce the build up of
fluid.

Lastly is Neurological Therapy that focuses on brain. They help Alzheimers

patients and those healing from a traumatic brain injury or stoke. They help the patients
regain control and movement of their bodies and strengthen their muscles. As seen there
are many options within Physical Therapy but all of them require lots of time with
patients and helping people heal.

Physical Therapy is a field that can be very rewarding but is also very demanding.
It is a physically demanding job that requires the therapists to be on their feet for most of
the day and also be able to support the weight of the patients. It also requires the use of
your hands and being able to do massages and use a variety of treatments from heat to
cold. It is also an Emotionally demanding field where not every story is a success story.
Many times a patient is unable to fully heal and a Physical Therapist is also often
emotionally invested and has to be able to give moral support. There is also little
opportunity to change careers once one enters the field.

While Physical Therapy can be challenging it is also a very rewarding field where
therapists get to help people and see progress and success and be a part of the patients
healing process. There is a also a wide variety of work settings and many options as one
progresses through the field. It is also a very social job with lots of interaction with
others. It is also a well paying job with the average annual salary being $75,000.

Physical Therapy also demands a lot of education and physical therapists are
required to either have a masters or clinical doctorate. So there is a requirement to go to
Grad school and this can also be very costly with many physical therapists working their
first few years just to pay off their debt. But once one graduates there are many job
opportunities and the demand for physical therapists continues to grow. Employment of
physical therapists is suspected to grow by 36% from 2012 to 2022 and it currently has
some of the lowest unemployment rates.

I also talked to Doctor Melanie Chamberlain who recently graduated with her
doctorate and is working at Performance West Physical Therapy and DDI Vantage.
She became interested in Physical Therapy due to the many injuries she sustained while
in high school and the time she ended up having to spend with physical therapists. For
Melanie, something that really got her interested was how concerned the Therapist was
and the influence she had on Melanie to caused her to be more careful and take better
care of herself.

Doctor Chamberlain also focused on how satisfying of a job it is. She did
mention that for her is was a bit more difficult to work in the hospital setting because of
the less amount of time that she got to spend with patients. She now works in clinics and
for her this was a much better option. Doctor Chamberlain also focuses more on sports
injuries and majored in sports science before going to physical therapy school.

Doctor Chamberlain did say that it is a challenging field but that it is also very
satisfying. There are many miracles that happen and that being able to help people get
better is one of the most satisfying things she has done. She also recommended that those
who are interested in this field should spend a substantial amount of time shadowing
physical therapists and learning from them before starting Physical Therapy School. This
is because it is a path that requires commitment and a lot of time that often times ends up
being wasted when people decide that this isnt the field for them after they have already
invested several years into the program.

As for me, I am very interested in this career path. I am a social person and I love
interacting with others and being able to help them. This is also a very secure job with
many opportunities. I am already working in the medical field as an EKG technician,
which also helps me gain needed experience and helps me get a glimpse at the type of
work that is required in this field.

As of right now I am still working on my Undergrad and I have yet to decide on a

major. Physical Therapy leaves a lot of options open for a major, as long as I take the
required classes I can major in whatever I want. At this moment I am interested in
Psychiatry as a major, this would be a very helpful major for the field of physical therapy,
especially the field I would most likely go into which is pediatric therapy.

Right now I am still a ways away from even entering Physical Therapy School
and there are many decisions I have left to make. But physical therapy is a career that I
would be able to support a family on and it is something that I am very interested in.
There are many options; luckily I have the resources necessary to learn more about this
field as I progress and hopefully I will make the best decisions for my future family and
myself.

Citations
Who Are Physical Therapists? (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from
http://www.apta.org/AboutPTs/
(United States) United States Home Change Country Don't see what you are
looking for?Get A Free Custom Salary Report . (n.d.). Retrieved December 2,
2015, from
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Physical_Therapist_(PT)/Salary
Jannenga, H. (2014, February 19). How To Start A Physical Therapy Clinic |
WebPT. Retrieved December 2, 2015, from https://www.webpt.com/how-to-starta-physical-therapy-clinic
Moon, J. (n.d.). PTJobsForYou.com. Retrieved December 2, 2015, from
http://www.ptjobsforyou.com/2011/06/08/pros-and-cons-of-a-career-as-aphysical-therapist/
Types Of Physical Therapy | BioMotion Physical Therapy. (2014, April 3).
Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.biomotionpt.com/the-types-ofphysical-therapy/
Personal Interview: Doctor Melanie Chamberlain. 11/30/2015.