Career profile Physical Therapist Aide

Table of Contents

• What does a Physical Therapist Aide do?
• What is a typical salary for a Physical Therapist Aide?
• What personality traits are common among Physical Therapist Aides?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Physical Therapist Aides need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does a Physical Therapist Aide do?

Physical Therapist Aides under close supervision of a physical therapist or physical therapy assistant, perform only delegated, selected, or routine tasks in specific situations.

In addition, Physical Therapist Aides these duties include preparing the patient and the treatment area.

What kind of tasks does a Physical Therapist Aide perform regularly?

Physical Therapist Aides are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

• Clean and organize work area and disinfect equipment after treatment.
• Instruct, motivate, safeguard, or assist patients practicing exercises or functional activities, under direction of medical staff.
• Record treatment given and equipment used.
• Administer active or passive manual therapeutic exercises, therapeutic massage, or heat, light, sound, water, or electrical modality treatments, such as ultrasound.
• Transport patients to and from treatment areas, using wheelchairs or providing standing support.
• Change linens, such as bed sheets and pillow cases.
• Secure patients into or onto therapy equipment.
• Schedule patient appointments with physical therapists and coordinate therapists' schedules.
• Observe patients during treatment to compile and evaluate data on patients' responses and progress and report to physical therapist.
• Confer with physical therapy staff or others to discuss and evaluate patient information for planning, modifying, or coordinating treatment.
• Arrange treatment supplies to keep them in order.
• Perform clerical duties, such as taking inventory, ordering supplies, answering telephone, taking messages, or filling out forms.
• Assist patients to dress, undress, or put on and remove supportive devices, such as braces, splints, or slings.
• Maintain equipment or furniture to keep it in good working condition, including performing the assembly or disassembly of equipment or accessories.

The above responsibilities are specific to Physical Therapist Aides. More generally, Physical Therapist Aides are involved in several broader types of activities:

What is a Physical Therapist Aide salary?

What personality traits are common among Physical Therapist Aides?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Physical Therapist Aide are usually higher in their Social and Realistic interests.

Physical Therapist Aides typically have very strong Social interests. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Also, Physical Therapist Aides typically have strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Physical Therapist Aide tend to value Relationships, Achievement, and Support.

Most importantly, Physical Therapist Aides very strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Second, Physical Therapist Aides moderately value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Lastly, Physical Therapist Aides moderately value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Physical Therapist Aides must consistently demonstrate qualities such as dependability, cooperation, and integrity.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Physical Therapist Aides, ranked by importance:

What education and training do Physical Therapist Aides need?

Working as a Physical Therapist Aide usually requires a high school diploma.

Physical Therapist Aides need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Physical Therapist Aides

• 1.5% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 5.3% completed high school or secondary school
• 10.4% completed some college coursework
• 50.5% earned a Associate's degree
• 28.1% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 2.6% earned a Master's degree
• 1.7% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Physical Therapist Aides

Important Abilities needed by Physical Therapist Aides

Physical Therapist Aides must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Physical Therapist Aides need abilities such as oral comprehension, oral expression, and problem sensitivity in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Physical Therapist Aides, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Physical Therapist Aides

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Physical Therapist Aides frequently use skills like active listening, social perceptiveness, and speaking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Physical Therapist Aides, ranked by their relative importance.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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