Physical therapy

The career path I have chosen to pursue is physical therapy. As I was growing up, physical therapy was not an option I would have considered but ever since junior year, my love for physical therapy has grown and pretty much eliminated all other career options. I had never fully understood what a physical therapist did until I became a patient. In the beginning of my junior year I had torn my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), medial cruciate ligament (MCL), and medial meniscus while playing goalkeeper in a soccer scrimmage. From this point on, I have been rehabbing my knees because of the multiple surgeries I have had over the past two years. The care and positive reinforcement I received during each appointment made me realize that this job was something I would love to do for the rest of my life. The love of sports really has helped me because a physical therapist is like a coach. They push you to your limit and believe in your ability to recover. The information necessary to finalize my decision is a description of the career itself, educational requirements, employment outlook, typical salary, and how the characteristics of mine would fit this career choice. A physical therapist is defined as a licensed professional who works with people with sustained disabilities, limitations, or impairments in their overall everyday functions of life. “Physical therapists examine, evaluate, diagnose, develop treatment plans, and provide a prognosis patient on a daily basis” (Inverarity, What is a Physical Therapist). They use different tools such as exercise, mobilization, heat, cold, and electrical stimulation to help restore function, improve mobility, and decrease pain with the goal of restoring the patient’s prior function level. Furthermore, they focus on coordination, range of motion, evaluation of muscle strength, endurance, and posture of each individual. After the examination, the therapist will then develop a treatment plan that focuses on that specific