Thinking of Majoring in Physical Therapy for Sports Medicine?

Question by Carrie: Thinking of majoring in Physical Therapy for sports medicine?
-how long would i have to stay in school, and what kind of degrees and classes would i have to take?

-what are the salaries and working days/hours/time off?

-where would i work to persue physical therapy for sports medicine? an office, the field, hospital?

-lastly, i have heard about orthopedic therapy, how does this differ from physical therapy?

Best answer:

Answer by mistify
Physical therapy is either a master’s or doctorate level degree. It takes about 6-7 years to complete.

In 2005, about 50% of PTs were earning between $ 50-70,000 a year. Your salary will depend on where you live, your setting and any specialty certifications you might hold. Most PTs work M-F with occasional weekends, especially if you are affiliated with a hospital or rehab center. Those working in an inpatient setting have more “typical 9-5 hours” but those working in the outpatient setting almost always have to work at least a couple evenings a week. If you plan to become a “sports” physical therapist, you will most likely be working in an outpatient clinic in a private or physician owned clinic.

To specialize in sports physical therapy, you must first get a degree in “regular” physical therapy. You can go to the education section of the APTA website at: http://www.apta.org to get a list of accredited PT programs.

Sports medicine and orthopedic physical therapy are both specialty certifications recognized by the APTA. They are similar in the terms that they both work on patients with orthopedically related problems (joints, injuries, surgeries, etc), but the sports specialty is more focused on rehabiliation of the athlete, while “orthopedic” physical therapy can focus on the athlete and the non-athletic population.

They are both forms of physical therapy, and these are specialty certifications that you can only sit for once you have been a PT for at least 2 years, complete the required continuing education and sat for the credentialing examination.

…in otherwords, “sports therapy” and “orthopedic therapy” are both forms of physical therapy, but not all physical therapy is “sports” or “orthopedically” realated (there are several specialties).

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