Physical Therapy

Physical therapists are movement experts who improve quality of life through prescribed exercise, hands-on care, and patient education. Physical therapy is a health profession dedicated to helping people move better regardless of what caused their movement issues. 

Physical therapy is offered to people at any stage of live from infancy to old age and everywhere that people might be who need help with movement related problems like hospitals, nursing homes, schools, clinics located in everyone’s community, and even in their homes, when needed.

Physical therapists are movement experts who improve quality of life through prescribed exercise, hands-on care, treatments, and patient education. Physical therapists use their knowledge of the body and all its systems (cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine, integumentary, nervous, and musculoskeletal) to evaluate people who aren’t moving well and develop unique treatment plans specifically for the individual patient to restore their ability to move as well as possible.

Most physical therapists are called generalists, which means that they treat almost anybody in almost any setting and do it well. But there are some physical therapists who become experts in a specialized area. The American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties recognizes clinical experts in cardiovascular and pulmonary, clinical electrophysiology, geriatric, neurology, orthopedic, oncology, pediatric, sports, women's health (pelvic health), and wound management.

There are several additional PT specialty certifications that a physical therapist can earn that demonstrate that the therapist has achieved a high degree of expertise in a particular area. 

Physical therapists work wherever people have trouble moving, such as hospitals, emergency departments, rehabilitation centers, skilled nursing facilities, and schools. They work in people’s homes and in clinics found in almost everyone’s communities. They are officers in the military, they work on the field with sports teams, in universities, insurance companies, quality control specialists, and researchers. Physical therapists also work in specialty clinics like women’s health clinics and stroke recovery centers. 

A physical therapist’s annual salary has much to do with where they live. Nevada is a great state for physical therapists to work with an average annual income of $104,210.

Physical and occupational therapy are rehabilitation professions that focus on restoring physical function and mobility to regain participation in a person's life roles. While physical therapists specialize in helping people to move better and on restoring an individual’s ability to do the functional movement they need to enjoy life, occupational therapists specialize in the roles that people need to perform in life. 

For instance, a person who has experienced a severe injury to their arm may have trouble moving the arm around and reaching overhead or behind their back. A physical therapist would help restore as much movement as possible in the arm. An occupational therapist would help the person learn how to use the mobility they have in their arm to dress, prepare meals, and to perform the skills they need at their job or in their role as a parent. 

If you are interested in becoming a physical therapist, take courses in anatomy, physiology, and exercise science in college. Start completing the required courses as early as possible in college and strive to get the best grades possible in your science courses. 

If possible, volunteer or get a job working in a physical therapy clinic and start to form mentoring relationships with physical therapists in your area. If you can’t work in a clinic, make the time to go watch physical therapists at work to make sure this is what you want to do. And then, apply to the physical therapy programs that most appeal to you, including Touro University Nevada! 

Our entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree requires that you have a Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited program, a minimum 2.75 cumulative, science and prerequisite GPA, prerequisites in human anatomy and physiology, biology, general chemistry, physics, psychology and statistics. We also require two letters of recommendation and 50 hours of exposure to the physical therapy practice (preference is given if in more than one setting). Visit the School of Physical Therapy Admissions and Requirements webpage for more information.