Physical Therapy Assistant

Career as a Physical Therapist Assistant A Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) is a health care provider whose function is to assist the Physical Therapist in the provision of physical therapy and to promote optimal health and function in a patient. A physical therapist will see the patient for the first time to examine then and develop a plan of care that promotes the ability to move, reduce pain, restores function, and prevents disability. The PTA will then follow the plan of care and make sure all the goals are met (About Physical Therapy Assistant Careers, 2017).
Schooling for a PTA includes a two-year associate degree. Before being accepted into the PTA program students must complete their general classes that take approximately two
semesters. The student must apply for the program along with taking the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) test. The TEAS test is a standardized test that is required for all medical students to pass before starting a medical program. Once in the PTA program, students will have clinical to attend throughout the two years. Education prepares student to assist the Physical Therapist with delivery of interventions and data collection (Pagliarrulo, 2016, p.46). After graduation, students must take a background check and pass the Boards Exam to be able to receive their practicing license.
Physical Therapist Assistant can work in many different health care facility settings some include acute care facility, such as a hospital, a patient admitted for more than 24-hours is considered inpatient care. Outpatient care is a patient who is discharge within 23 hours of being admitted, and may require ongoing treatment, care, and education (DeLaet, 2012, p.10). A subacute care facility provides medical and or rehabilitation care for less than three hours. DeLaet said (2012) “These patients are stable enough that they do not needs acute care, yet they need more complex treatment than can be found in a nursing or rehabilitation facility” (p.12). Extended care facility provides help with the activities of daily living to people of any age. This includes nursing homes and residential institutions for mentally or physically disabled patients (DeLaet, 2012, p.12). Independent-living facility is a group of apartments or houses for residents who can take care of themselves and are mobile, yet still need some help with daily activities (DeLaet, 2012, p.12). Home health care is when the therapist comes to the patient’s home to provide therapy. Home health care mostly consist of senior citizens but there are also pediatric patients with developmental disabilities and other conditions (About Physical Therapy Assistant Careers, 2017). Rehabilitation centers provide service for patients needing physical or emotional rehabilitation treatment. A rehabilitation center typically provides therapy for three hours per day (About Physical Therapy Assistant Careers, 2017). Hospice is therapy provided in the last phases of an incurable disease. DeLaet said (2012) “Hospice focuses on reducing pain, symptoms, and stress during the last stage of terminal illnesses” (p.13). These are only some of the health care facility settings a Physical Therapist Assistant is qualified to work. If a PTA must go to a home for treatment, the PT must be available by phone if the PTA has any emergencies or questions to ask.
For every new patient the Physical Therapist must go through certain steps before starting therapy. The first step is examination. During the examination of the patient, the PT will gather information about past and current health status. The second step is evaluation. The evaluation step is a judgment based on data collected during the examination step. Next, is the therapy diagnosis; which is the categorization of findings from the examination and are always based on patients function. The fourth step is prognosis; this is where the PT will predict the level of improvement and time needed to reach goals. Prognosis is where the PT comes up with the plan of care, which includes expectations of the client, long term and short-term goals, expected outcomes, interventions, and discharge criteria. The last step is the intervention. The intervention is the procedures conducted by either the PT or PTA to achieve desired outcome. A typical day for a Physical Therapist Assistant includes therapeutic exercises, traction, massage, ultrasound, electrotherapy, balance and gait training, motor learning and development, and patient and family education. Patient intervention includes teaching the patient appropriate ways to move or perform particular tasks to prevent from further injury and to promote health and wellness. During the time session, a PTA spends with the patient they must record everything that the patient did so that the PT may evaluate the plan of care if needed and see when the patient may be ready for discharge.
I became interested in pursuing a career as a Physical Therapist Assistant by attending physical therapy myself.
I was a junior in high school during basketball season with no plans for college. It was the fourth game of the season with eight seconds to go in the fourth quarter, when I cut down the middle to go up for a shot and ended up on the ground from a player striking the side of my knee. After three trainers and two doctors looked at my knee I got news back that it was an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear, meaning surgery and that I was done with sports until my senior year. After surgery, I had a weekend of rest then started physical therapy. I attended physical therapy three times a week for two hours as well as doing at home exercises. I enjoyed seeing all that a therapist does and how they help people get back to where they were before. I was incredibly grateful for all they did for me getting me ready in time for summer volleyball for my senior year. I started to research all about a Physical Therapist and came across Physical Therapy Assistant, which I found more interesting mainly because it was less schooling. I had decided this is what I wanted to do and go to college for. Once senior year started, I did an internship with the facility I had gone to for therapy. I loved the environment and how the workers all communicated and got along. Getting to help people every day get their range of motion back and watching all the progress they make over the weeks was inspiring and that is what I wanted to see every day in my
work.
Physical therapist and physical therapist assistant help patients’ every day with gaining their mobility back. Although to become a PTA schooling is only about two and a half years to three years it is still a very competitive program and takes a lot of hard work and dedication. A PTA is just as qualified as a PT to do treatment even though a PT is a doctorates degree. Attending physical therapy for my injury was an eye opening experience, it showed me how helpful therapists are and the dedication they put into each patient is amazing. A therapist wants to see a patient progress just as much as the patient wants to. If I would have never attended physical therapy I would not be where I am today working towards becoming a physical therapist assistant.