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What would a typical day as a physical therapist be like?
I'm a highschool student in Burton highschool
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Lauren’s Answer
Depends on where you work, but, basically you walk into work. Retrieve a schedule which tells you who you will be seeing. Review their charts for diagnosis and precautions.
Patients will arrive, or you retrieve them from their rooms. You will see the patient and make a plan on what to do with them to make them better. This could include exercises, manual therapy, balance activities, gait training, etc. You with then execute the plan.
You will document what you did, what treatment was performed and how well the patient did during your session.
You will determine what to charge the patient. And continue on with more patients.
The way you treat the patient, how many you see, will vary depending on location such as a hospital, skilled nursing facility, outpatient clinic and so forth.
Some places you will see ~2 pts an hour, some places are one on one. Sometimes you get time for documentation, sometimes you have to document while with the patient. Some places are focused on Ortho (post surgical) some are focused on neuro (stroke, TBI).
Patients will arrive, or you retrieve them from their rooms. You will see the patient and make a plan on what to do with them to make them better. This could include exercises, manual therapy, balance activities, gait training, etc. You with then execute the plan.
You will document what you did, what treatment was performed and how well the patient did during your session.
You will determine what to charge the patient. And continue on with more patients.
The way you treat the patient, how many you see, will vary depending on location such as a hospital, skilled nursing facility, outpatient clinic and so forth.
Some places you will see ~2 pts an hour, some places are one on one. Sometimes you get time for documentation, sometimes you have to document while with the patient. Some places are focused on Ortho (post surgical) some are focused on neuro (stroke, TBI).
I will use this advice as I prepare for my career.
Nicholas
Updated
Samuel’s Answer
Hi Nicholas, while physical therapy needs hands on activities, the reward is always seeing the progress or the results of your work.
A typical day involves a high energy blend of clinical expertise and interpersonal connection, centered around a rotating schedule of patient appointments.
Mornings usually begins with reviewing charts and preparing the space for specific rehabilitative movements tailored to each person's recovery goals. Throughout the day, the focus shifts between hands on manual work like, joint mobilization and guiding patients through corrective exercises, all while constantly assessing progress and adjusting plans in real time. Interspersed between these active sessions are necessary blocks for meticulous documentation to track outcomes and coordinate care with the rest of the medical team. While the physical demands of being on one's feet and assisting with mobility can be taxing, the day is defined by those rewarding breakthrough moments when a patient regains their independence or finds relief from chronic pain.
A typical day involves a high energy blend of clinical expertise and interpersonal connection, centered around a rotating schedule of patient appointments.
Mornings usually begins with reviewing charts and preparing the space for specific rehabilitative movements tailored to each person's recovery goals. Throughout the day, the focus shifts between hands on manual work like, joint mobilization and guiding patients through corrective exercises, all while constantly assessing progress and adjusting plans in real time. Interspersed between these active sessions are necessary blocks for meticulous documentation to track outcomes and coordinate care with the rest of the medical team. While the physical demands of being on one's feet and assisting with mobility can be taxing, the day is defined by those rewarding breakthrough moments when a patient regains their independence or finds relief from chronic pain.
Thanks, can't wait to put this advice into action!
Nicholas
Updated
Nadia’s Answer
I agree with the above answers, and also want to iterate that it depends a lot on which setting you choose to work in. PT's in a hospital setting often will receive their schedule for the day in the morning, and have to do a lot of reviewing charts to understand what is going on with their patients before seeing them. Hospital PTs typically only treat one patient at a time, and will often be working on basic things, such as helping the patient transfer from the bed to a chair for instance, or walk with an assistive device such as a walker or cane, while assisting with management of lines and tubes that they may be connected to. In this setting, you probably won't have to see as many patients/day, but the documentation may be more complicated, since people who are in the hospital tend to have more complicated medical history.
If you are working in an outpatient setting, this can vary a lot as well. There are a lot of clinics which have a set up, where a PT is treating 2-3 patients simultaneously with the help of PT techs. This can obviously be very fast-paced, and require a lot of time for documentation as well. There are smaller clinics that treat patients one-on-one, but these are less common, and often will schedule patients for shorter sessions (30-45 minutes), so that you can still fit in enough patients/day to make the business profitable. One on one care tends to allow you more time to focus on your patients and provide individualized treatments, but it can also be more physically and mentally demanding, since patients will expect more attention from you. Lastly, there are also self-pay specialty clinics, which typically see patients one-on-one for an hour, and may have less documentation to complete since you will not have to deal with insurance if the patients are paying out of pocket. However, in this setting, you may have to assist with other tasks such as marketing, community-based educational sessions, etc.. Highly specialized treatment populations, such as vestibular rehab (inner ear disorders causing dizziness/imbalance), and pelvic floor PT (which treats conditions of the pelvis, such as incontinence, pelvic pain, and post-partum care) tend to be self-pay, as they are not typically reimbursed well through insurance since they require one-on-one, longer-duration sessions due to the nature of the care (pelvic PT can be of a very intimate nature, for instance, and vestibular patients can be at high fall risk, and require close guarding for safety). In these settings, you might become very specialized in treating a few types of conditions, whereas if you work in a more typical outpatient setting, you will be treating a broad variety of conditions/injuries, since PTs can treat the whole body. Hope this helps!
If you are working in an outpatient setting, this can vary a lot as well. There are a lot of clinics which have a set up, where a PT is treating 2-3 patients simultaneously with the help of PT techs. This can obviously be very fast-paced, and require a lot of time for documentation as well. There are smaller clinics that treat patients one-on-one, but these are less common, and often will schedule patients for shorter sessions (30-45 minutes), so that you can still fit in enough patients/day to make the business profitable. One on one care tends to allow you more time to focus on your patients and provide individualized treatments, but it can also be more physically and mentally demanding, since patients will expect more attention from you. Lastly, there are also self-pay specialty clinics, which typically see patients one-on-one for an hour, and may have less documentation to complete since you will not have to deal with insurance if the patients are paying out of pocket. However, in this setting, you may have to assist with other tasks such as marketing, community-based educational sessions, etc.. Highly specialized treatment populations, such as vestibular rehab (inner ear disorders causing dizziness/imbalance), and pelvic floor PT (which treats conditions of the pelvis, such as incontinence, pelvic pain, and post-partum care) tend to be self-pay, as they are not typically reimbursed well through insurance since they require one-on-one, longer-duration sessions due to the nature of the care (pelvic PT can be of a very intimate nature, for instance, and vestibular patients can be at high fall risk, and require close guarding for safety). In these settings, you might become very specialized in treating a few types of conditions, whereas if you work in a more typical outpatient setting, you will be treating a broad variety of conditions/injuries, since PTs can treat the whole body. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for the advice.
Nicholas
Updated
Rebecca’s Answer
Lauren's overview of the typical schedule is pretty accurate. Basically, depending on the setting you are working in, you will be using your knowledge and skills to assess human body movement and where there may be deficits, then deciding on which exercises, treatment techniques, and/or ways you can educate the patient that will assist them in addressing these movement deficits. Physical therapy is a detailed study of the human body and the way it moves whether that be for sport, daily tasks such as basic reaching or walking, or regaining joint and muscle function after major illness, trauma, or surgery. You will work directly and sometimes intimately with people all day long.
Thank you so much for the advice.
Nicholas