Alternate Choices to Physical Therapy as a Career?

Question by zcall27: alternate choices to physical therapy as a career?
first going into college i wanted to become a physical therapist. I still do, but my grades really don’t meet up with the such high standards to get in to a good pt school. I would like to stay in a health profession, but really wasn’t sure where to go.
ive considered physical therapist assistant, but realistically i wouldn’t make enough money and wouldn’t have room to grow. Also maybe occupational therapist, but i don’t know to much about that.
im really open to anything. so don’t be afraid to submit any ideas!
Also if you have any personal experience with that job, i would like to know why you like it and why you chose it.

thanks so much!

Best answer:

Answer by jannsody
Both the PT and OT field are supposed to be quite physically as well as emotionally draining. The OT profession (occupational therapist, registered/OTR and certified occupational therapy assistant/COTA) deals with people that have varying types of disabilities and difficulties that interfere with their daily functioning, ability to care for themselves such as having trouble feeding themselves, dressing themselves and/or personal hygiene needs among other areas of difficulty. The goal is supposed to be to help the patient become as independent as possible.

OT and PT do tend to overlap in their tasks though even though the OT may deal with hand therapy (due to an injury or such) as opposed to therapy of someone with a broken leg which is what the PT may treat. With OT, I believe that most jobs are currently in nursing homes/long-term care facilities working with patients (“residents” since they, unfortunately, reside there) who have had a stroke (“brain attack”), amputated limb, hip replacement surgery or broken hip or such.

For general career info: http://www.bls.gov/oco and can search ‘physical therapist assistants’, ‘occupational therapists’ or whatever other career that piques one’s interest.

I believe that both fields require one to be pretty adept in the sciences especially biology and anatomy & physiology. Regardless of your field of interest, please check with the school(s) that you would like to transfer to before taking your prerequisite courses so that you’re not wasting money on courses that don’t end up transferring.

Please steer clear of those online, for-profit schools such as penn foster, US career, sanford brown, everest, ITT tech, stratford career, university of phoenix, ashworth, strayer, devry, kaplan, walden, capella and others as they are merely out to ‘make a profit’ (and course credits may not transfer): http://www.ripoffreport.com and can type inot search.

For US colleges: http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ

Answer by Steve S
Maybe you would be better as a personal trainer or coach. Possibly a teacher . Personal trainer is a good way to make some extra cash while in college. PT and OT tech jobs can be had after that until you are ready to graduate. Focus on getting into school more into than the best school. and keep your eyes open for ways to cross train in allied fields. Remember that there are lots of ways to make money around your degree plan. Such as management, sale of PT equipment etc. Just keep all that in the back of your mind while you are in school.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

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