3 answers
Brandie
Student
Millersburg, Indiana
2
Questions
Updated
781 views
What's being a PTA really like?
How are you treated? Is the pay enough to pay the loans?
#PTA; #IvyTech; #Indiana #physical-therapy #physical-therapy
3 answers
Gonzalo Saldivar
Physical Therapist Assistant
1
Answer
Oak Park, Illinois
Updated
Gonzalo’s Answer
Hello Brandie!
My name is Gonzalo and that is a very good question. You need to be aware that how people might respond is going to vary by personal experience and preferences. I will encourage you to do your research so you can make your best decision. Don't make a decision solely based on the info you get from us! With that being said, I hope this info can answer some of your questions.
I just graduated from the PTA program from Mt Hood Community College and my total school loan was around $20,000 not considering books or living expenses. You probably are considering PT school also which sometimes your loan will increase up to 3 to 4 times more the amount I mentioned. You and whoever is reading this information need to know that there are several settings in the PT world (SNF, outpatient, and inpatient), those 3 with different pay rates for PT or PTA. The difference in salary with a PTA to PT in some cases will of 2 times more per month. but remember, your loan as a PT is going to be of 3-4 times more depending on what school you can get into. This means, that you will be paying that loan for a long time or if you want to get out of debt faster well, the remaining balance of your payment will suffer a great impact.
Do you know the difference between PT/PTA? It's not just the amount of loan that you will get! A PT's job is to make an evaluation of the patient; this means, PT will be in charge of making the diagnosis, establishing the length of treatment, re-evaluations, to make a POC (Plan Of Care), to manage Aide staff. As a PTA will initiate activities depending on the PT POC. PTA has more contact with the patient, 2- 3 times a week (vs PT will see the patient in eval and once a month for re-evals) depending on PT orders. PTA will report to PT any findings like new symptoms, regressions, progressions that will help the PT to make a decision at the time of re-evals, if the POC needs to change or if the patient needs to be discharged.
The readers and you must ask yourselves, what type of personality do I have? Would you like to be more involved with the patient in their care? Are you ok to treat the patient once a month? This is because the patients will share with the PTA about their problems, kids, shopping, sports, likes/dislikes. What type of lifestyle you are used to? because PTA salary is enough to have a decent life, will never get rich but the experience patient care is invaluable.
I will recommend talking with program advisors, research school costs, but most importantly ask yourself the questions mentioned before and keep on reaching out to actual therapists.
My name is Gonzalo and that is a very good question. You need to be aware that how people might respond is going to vary by personal experience and preferences. I will encourage you to do your research so you can make your best decision. Don't make a decision solely based on the info you get from us! With that being said, I hope this info can answer some of your questions.
I just graduated from the PTA program from Mt Hood Community College and my total school loan was around $20,000 not considering books or living expenses. You probably are considering PT school also which sometimes your loan will increase up to 3 to 4 times more the amount I mentioned. You and whoever is reading this information need to know that there are several settings in the PT world (SNF, outpatient, and inpatient), those 3 with different pay rates for PT or PTA. The difference in salary with a PTA to PT in some cases will of 2 times more per month. but remember, your loan as a PT is going to be of 3-4 times more depending on what school you can get into. This means, that you will be paying that loan for a long time or if you want to get out of debt faster well, the remaining balance of your payment will suffer a great impact.
Do you know the difference between PT/PTA? It's not just the amount of loan that you will get! A PT's job is to make an evaluation of the patient; this means, PT will be in charge of making the diagnosis, establishing the length of treatment, re-evaluations, to make a POC (Plan Of Care), to manage Aide staff. As a PTA will initiate activities depending on the PT POC. PTA has more contact with the patient, 2- 3 times a week (vs PT will see the patient in eval and once a month for re-evals) depending on PT orders. PTA will report to PT any findings like new symptoms, regressions, progressions that will help the PT to make a decision at the time of re-evals, if the POC needs to change or if the patient needs to be discharged.
The readers and you must ask yourselves, what type of personality do I have? Would you like to be more involved with the patient in their care? Are you ok to treat the patient once a month? This is because the patients will share with the PTA about their problems, kids, shopping, sports, likes/dislikes. What type of lifestyle you are used to? because PTA salary is enough to have a decent life, will never get rich but the experience patient care is invaluable.
I will recommend talking with program advisors, research school costs, but most importantly ask yourself the questions mentioned before and keep on reaching out to actual therapists.
Anita Krishnan, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy
4
Answers
Aliso Viejo, California
Updated
Anita’s Answer
Hello Brandie! I am a DPT (doctor of physical therapy) for the past 8 years and have worked with many PTAs. I will say that the pay is generally enough to re-pay loans, but in our field, most people are paying the debt back for a long time and making some sacrifices in their lifestyles. In general, PTAs are treated very well as apart of the team, but it may be frustrating as you gain experience and get really good at your job to have to rely on your physical therapist to make any changes to a patient's care. It is also a bit more difficult to advance in your career based on the discussions I have had with the PTAs I know. The biggest factor in finding success as a PTA is to continue to study hard and improve your skills even after school. Keep that in mind.
My advice would be that you must work really hard in your studies, take up an internship/job at multiple clinics and ask lots of questions to the therapists, do your research to make sure the school you attend is going to be worth your loan investment, apply for every scholarship you can find, be very smart with your money early-on (save, save, save!), and dedicate yourself to becoming the best clinician you can be. If you do these things, you can have a very fulfilling career ahead of you. Hope this helps!
My advice would be that you must work really hard in your studies, take up an internship/job at multiple clinics and ask lots of questions to the therapists, do your research to make sure the school you attend is going to be worth your loan investment, apply for every scholarship you can find, be very smart with your money early-on (save, save, save!), and dedicate yourself to becoming the best clinician you can be. If you do these things, you can have a very fulfilling career ahead of you. Hope this helps!
Lauren Ellis Triemstra
Physical Therapist Assistant
19
Answers
Joliet, Illinois
Updated
Lauren Ellis’s Answer
Hi! I have been a PTA in an outpatient orthopedic setting for 9 years. It's the type of job I would do even if I didn't have to, meaning that I love the work and even if I didn't need the money, I would still like to do the work (in some capacity).
I've worked with many PTs over the years and most are very appreciative of the PTAs and you work together with them as a team to treat patients. As a PTA, you do not do the Initial Evaluation - that is something only the PT can do. But, regarding providing the actual care, a PTA is trained and qualified to provide the day-to-day treatment session with the patient from start to finish of that day's session. And, say, during their 12 visits, a PTA might see the patient 8 times and the PT will see them 4. It can depend on a lot of different factors including scheduling availability of the PT/PTA and the patient, insurance, etc.
In a good PT/PTA team, communication is key. As a PTA, if I have a concern or question or suggestion, I like to run it by the PT even if it is within my scope to address myself because we're a team - for example, I think a new manual technique would be appropriate that the PT hasn't already done. It could be a simple conversation like, "hey, Bob is coming in later, do you mind if I do ____ with him today?" And, again, most PTs were very receptive to this type of communication and if they disagree, there can be a conversation as to why, which would be a learning experience.
As a PTA, I got a lot of questions from patients like, "you're a PTA, so you're in school to become a PT?" Or, "are you training to become a PT?" My answer: "nope." I've been to college and I can treat patients. There may be a little less paperwork and caseload management (keeping all your patients organized in terms of their prescription and progress towards goal and planning to get them discharged) as a PTA, but in my setting, I was required to do a Daily Note on each patient and could also complete Progress Notes and Discharge Summaries, just like a PT. While it was not my decision as a PTA to discharge a patient from therapy, it would be communicated to me by the PT or through caseload reports that so and so is coming up for discharge this week, or the patient is leaving for college/vacation, or insurance is only covering 3 more visits so we have to discharge.
The cost of PTA school to PT school is significant. $20-30k for an associates in applied science (depends on community college vs a private program) vs $100K or more (and that can vary from school to school and go upwards of $130k, but this is just a ballpark figure), just for the Doctorate of Physical Therapy, that's not counting the undergraduate degree that is required. So you can graduate sooner and get to work sooner as a PTA. I even worked part-time as a rehab tech/rehabilitation technician for an outpatient PT office while I was in PTA school. You obviously make less money as a PTA compared to a PT, but for quite a while PTs are paying off those loans that minimize that pay gap between the two degrees.
Check with your local community college for a PTA program, which will be cheaper than a private college's PTA program. Some private schools have an accelerated time frame during their program. My local community college did not have a PTA program, so I was able to apply to the next closest community college that did and provided an out-of-district waiver because my in-district school did not offer it, so I was still able to pay in-district fees.
Try applying for a rehab tech/rehab aide type position to get your feet wet. I found it so helpful to be working part-time in a PT setting while also learning about it in school to help reinforce what I was learning. My company was flexible with my school schedule and I ended up working for them after I graduated my PTA program.
I've worked with many PTs over the years and most are very appreciative of the PTAs and you work together with them as a team to treat patients. As a PTA, you do not do the Initial Evaluation - that is something only the PT can do. But, regarding providing the actual care, a PTA is trained and qualified to provide the day-to-day treatment session with the patient from start to finish of that day's session. And, say, during their 12 visits, a PTA might see the patient 8 times and the PT will see them 4. It can depend on a lot of different factors including scheduling availability of the PT/PTA and the patient, insurance, etc.
In a good PT/PTA team, communication is key. As a PTA, if I have a concern or question or suggestion, I like to run it by the PT even if it is within my scope to address myself because we're a team - for example, I think a new manual technique would be appropriate that the PT hasn't already done. It could be a simple conversation like, "hey, Bob is coming in later, do you mind if I do ____ with him today?" And, again, most PTs were very receptive to this type of communication and if they disagree, there can be a conversation as to why, which would be a learning experience.
As a PTA, I got a lot of questions from patients like, "you're a PTA, so you're in school to become a PT?" Or, "are you training to become a PT?" My answer: "nope." I've been to college and I can treat patients. There may be a little less paperwork and caseload management (keeping all your patients organized in terms of their prescription and progress towards goal and planning to get them discharged) as a PTA, but in my setting, I was required to do a Daily Note on each patient and could also complete Progress Notes and Discharge Summaries, just like a PT. While it was not my decision as a PTA to discharge a patient from therapy, it would be communicated to me by the PT or through caseload reports that so and so is coming up for discharge this week, or the patient is leaving for college/vacation, or insurance is only covering 3 more visits so we have to discharge.
The cost of PTA school to PT school is significant. $20-30k for an associates in applied science (depends on community college vs a private program) vs $100K or more (and that can vary from school to school and go upwards of $130k, but this is just a ballpark figure), just for the Doctorate of Physical Therapy, that's not counting the undergraduate degree that is required. So you can graduate sooner and get to work sooner as a PTA. I even worked part-time as a rehab tech/rehabilitation technician for an outpatient PT office while I was in PTA school. You obviously make less money as a PTA compared to a PT, but for quite a while PTs are paying off those loans that minimize that pay gap between the two degrees.
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