Career Evaluation

By Dawson Schramm

College Of Western Idaho

HLTH-290: Exercise and Health Science Capstone

November 1, 2021
 Introduction

I’ve chosen a physical therapist assistant for my career. I’ve always wanted to help

people in my career and this gives me the opportunity to fulfil that. At first, I thought about

becoming a nurse because both my parents are nurses and I know they make a positive impact on

people’s lives at work every day. After thinking about nursing for some time, I decided nursing

wasn’t for me due to some factors such as having to poke people with needles. I continued

thinking about a medical profession because I know it’s a good career field that is going to grow

in the future.

At the time I was a senior in high school and always loved playing sports and am still

passionate about today, so I started to think about careers that could keep me connected to sports

in some way and kept in mind what I wanted out of my career. I knew I wanted to be around

sports and wanted to help others so I landed on a physical therapist assistant, because it can keep

me connected to sports if I get the right job and get to help people every day I’m at work. I hopes

are that I graduate as a PTA and I get to work with a physical therapist who works with athletes

coming back from injury, where I would be the one helping the athletes do their exercises.

Program Requirements

In order to become a physical therapist assistant, you have to go through a PTA program.

The program I’ve been looking at and wanting to go through is the Idaho Consortium for

Physical Therapist Assistant Education Program. The requirements to apply to get in are as

follows; 1. have a highschool diploma or GED, 2. Application to the Physical Therapist Assistant

program, and 3. Minimum gpa of 2.0 in the following classes; BIOL-227 (Human Anatomy &

Physiology), CAOT-179 (Medical Terminology), ENGL-101 (English Composition), and

classes that give bonus points if completed with a 2.0 or better are; BIOL-228 (Human Anatomy

& Physiology II), COMM-101 (Introduction to Speech Communication), and PSYC-101

(Introduction to Psychology) (North Idaho College). Points are awarded for these certain classes

because the program is very competitive and only forty people are allowed into the program this

year. Students are picked from four different schools. These schools are, College of Western

Idaho which picks 14 students, Lewis-Clark State College who picks 6 students, North Idaho

College gets to pick 10 students, and College of Southern Idaho who picks 10 students as well

(North Idaho College). Since the program is competitive, the program suggests completing the

classes that are not required to give you the best shot to get in.

Once students are in the PTA program, they will stay in it for two years or five semesters.

Students take classes along with labs and clinicals when they’re in the program. The students

will need to complete a state certification test in the state where they plan on working before

practicing on patients.

Organization

Once students graduate and have their license to practice, you can find them working

anywhere a physical therapist will work, such as a hospital, private clinic, and nursing homes.

This is because they only work directly with a physical therapist. Since there’s different work

environments for PTA’s, clientele’s ages and injuries can differ than that in a different

environment but it’s typical to work with all ages and both sexes. Besides physical therapists,

PTA’s also work with physical therapist aides who work primarily indirectly with patients. Their

duties would be cleaning and setting up the clinic or area of treatment, they also help move

patients, and do clerical work. A PTA’s job responsibilities are going to be more directly
involved with the patients and can include observing patients before, during, and after treatment.

They also help patients to recover from injury or illness and to regain movement and strength

through exercises and using equipment such as a muscle stimulator. Physical Therapist

Assistants are also expected to educate patients and family members about their injury,

treatment, and what to expect after treatment (Bureau of Labor Statistics). The treatment plan

that a physical therapist assistant practices with a patient is going to be given to them by the

physical therapist they work under. It’s important that the PTA talks to the PT about the

progression of the patient so they can change treatment plans if needed.

Industry

Job Growth

The medical field is one of the top grossing career fields at the moment. According to the

Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The percent change in employment projected for 2020-30 is a

growth of 35% for Physical Therapist Assistants, making up for 8% of all occupations” (Bureau

of Labor Statistics). It’s projected to grow 35% due to the baby boomer generation becoming

older, increasing their chances of strokes, heart attacks, and injuries that can affect their mobility.

Physical Therapist and their assistants will be some of the careers that will be taking care of

these people. Another problem that will lead to an increase in PTA jobs is obesity, more and

more people are becoming overweight which leads to heart attacks, strokes, and mobility

problems.

Salary

Due to Physical Therapist Assistants working in different environments, salaries change

with the environment. Based on a 40-hour week, the median wage for Physical Therapist
Assistant’s in May 2020 was $59,770. The lowest 10% made less than $33,840, and the highest

10% made more than $82,470, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because physical

therapist assistants work in different environments, salaries change with the environment in

which they work in. The table below shows different working environments and their median

wages based on a 40-hour work week.

Environment: Wages
Nursing care facilities $67,120
Home healthcare services $64, 700

Hospitals; state, local, and private $58,460

Offices of physical, occupational and speech $58,050

therapists, and audiologists

Note: Median wages for PTA’s in different working environments.

Conclusion

I’ve had my mind set on becoming a physical therapist assistant for about four years now,

it’s where I see myself in about three years depending on how classes go along with how my

mental state is. School has always caused a great deal of stress in my life and has affected my

mood so recently I’ve been focusing on my mental state, making sure I’m happy and not rushing

through life and school. Through a career as a PTA, I hope to better people's lives by making

them healthier so they don’t spend time in pain or can’t do the things they love because they

don’t have full mobility. I also want to educate my patients about how what they do affects their

bodies. I want to give people the ability to play with their children and grandchildren without

thinking about how they’re going to be hurting the next day.

Asking myself questions like, “What if I don’t like it? Do I want to do this for the rest of my life?

Will I be able to provide for a family?” but now after deep researching I feel more comfortable

proceeding into this career. Of course, I’ll keep a backup plan in case things go wrong or if I

change my mind. I’ve thought about lineman school for a while, it’s attractive to me because the

education is more hands-on training rather than reading a book. These programs can last three

years, and after completing the program they make an average of $68,030 per year (Bureau of

Labor Statistics). Meridian, Idaho is home to one of the best programs for linemen which is

convenient as it’s only about a 30-minute drive from where I currently live. Although I don’t

plan on going into lineman school right now, I feel like it’s a good backup plan for myself.

Appendix

Interview questions:

Question 1: “What does a regular day as a physical therapist assistant look like?”

Answer: “As a physical therapist assistant, I talk to the PT and get an outline for each client and

discuss patient's conditions to determine if we need to change anything on their treatment plan.

You spend most of your time with patients doing treatments so you don’t do a lot of paperwork,

usually only around five minutes worth of paperwork per client.

Question 2: “What kind of patients and do you see on a daily basis?”

Answer: “On a daily basis, we see a variety of clients, from kids in high school or

younger who have had surgery to elderly people who need help with their mobility.”

Question 3: “What’s the most common injury you see and what’s your method of treatment?”
Answer: “We get a lot of people who have joint and muscle pain in their shoulders, knees, back,

ect. We treat these with stretching and joint mobilization techniques to strengthen the joints.”

Question 4: “How do you motivate a client who doesn’t put in as much effort as they should?”

Answer: “Most patients are self-motivated and want to get better themselves but the clients who

do have problems are usually going to be the younger kids who don’t really understand why it’s

so important for them to do their exercises. For situations like this, I like to talk to the parents so

they can help them with exercises at home, I also like to educate the kids in a way that they can

understand, and I like to reward them with small treats for complying with me.”

Question 5: “What would you tell someone who is planning on applying to a physical therapist

assistant program?”

Answer: “First of all stick with it, if you want to help people in your career you’ll love this job.

It’s a high tempo job and you have to keep up. I would say if you haven’t already, complete the

nonrequired classes to get into the program. Even if you can get into the program without them,

they provide good knowledge that an employer looks for and likes.”
 References

American Physical Therapy Association, (2021) Becoming a PTA, APTA,

https://www.apta.org/

Bureau of Labor Statistics, (September 8, 2021) U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational

Outlook Handbook, Physical Therapist Assistant and Aides,

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physical-therapist-assistants-and-aides.htm

North Idaho College, (2020) Physical Therapist Assistant, Career and Technical

Program, https://www.nic.edu/programs/viewprogram.aspx?program_id=66