What's the Difference Between a Physical Therapist and a Physician's Assistant?
Olivia
Karegeannes
Even with some knowledge in this field because of my current job as a PT Tech, I still had some questions that were unanswered. I wanted to read about specific current and former PT students and hear about their experiences. I was able to read two essays from two anonymous PT students that were answering the prompt from their Universities (that were not mentioned): Describe your decision making process choosing physical therapy as a career choice versus other health care careers.
The first essay emphasized their passion for helping people attain their goals, and also how shadowing and volunteer hours helped them reassure their passion for the health field. This certain student said that they shadowed many health profession, but the doctors and nurses that they shadowed didn’t have the same passion for their job as the physical therapists did. This student talked about many of their volunteering experiences. Two of their stories from their volunteering experiences stood out from the rest: USCF’s Health and Wellness Clinic and a local retirement community. When they were volunteering at the USCF’s Health and Wellness Clinic they explained this job as,
“an eye opening experience”.
This student said that if you are interested in physical therapy, you need to shadow in different fields of physical therapy. After shadowing in an Athletic Training room and then in the health and wellness clinic, it shows how different each field of physical therapy and how different health fields are. During their experience, she noticed that not everything a physical therapist does is all by the book. They use creativity. “That seemingly boundless creativity was as impressive as it was inspiring, and it motivated me to explore other treatment settings.” The last paragraph in their essay they talked about their experience in a local retirement community. The story that they told about a certain elderly man, touched my heart. In their experience at the retirement community, they met Winston, an elderly Iranian with Alzheimer’s Disease. “His gait pattern included short shuffles and when he sat, his eyes shut and he appeared asleep. When asked the date, he said it was 1972 and we were in Russia.” The man asked the volunteer if they could teach him how to ride a bike again. “After auditory, visual, and kinesthetic cues, Winston pedaled at a normal pace. ‘Thank you,’ he smiled. I was in awe; a patient who could barely walk was now biking like a healthy person.”
Hearing stories like these reassured my passion for physical therapy and for helping others attain their goals.
Essay #1
The second essay was from a student who has a similar reason as me. This student explains that they always imagined themselves enjoying a career in the healthcare field and is constantly concerned about helping others get better. At first this student explained, “I contemplated becoming a surgeon, but as I thought more of the high-stress and time demands that come with that career, I began to expand my horizons and look to other health careers. Having worked for the physical therapy program at my university, I was exposed to the preparation that goes into becoming a physical therapist but never the practice itself. As I pondered different health fields I always came back to physical therapy.” This student touched on something that the other student didn’t mention. This student said that from shadowing they noticed that the physical therapists had more passion, care, and kindness towards the patients compared to other health care fields. From my personal experience I can confirm that this is true. After my interim experience when I shadowed a physical therapist for two weeks, I could tell just from the first day how the therapists acted around and away from the patients that they were treating. Every therapist there throughly enjoys their job and will do anything for them. Another part of the job of the physical therapist that intrigues me and which the student in this essay touches on, is how the therapist can see the progress of their recovery process, “While I understand the work they do is just as important in a patient’s recovery, I would not feel like I am making a difference in the lives of my patients nor see the results for myself if I was doing their work. The nurses work with patients and are able to see progress, but they do not get as much one-on-one time nor are they the main guide in a patient’s rehabilitation process.
I want to be directly involved in my patient’s recovery; I want to experience their growth myself.”
At this point in my research, I would have to agree that seeing the patients twice or even three times a week that you can physically see the progress of the patient’s recovery. Every 3-6 weeks the physical therapist is required to send in a PR, a progress report, for the insurance companies. During a PR the therapist has to go through a set of tests to check how the patient is recovering and compare the results to the initial appointment. One of the PT’s that I work for, Ashley, told me that these sets of tests really show how much the patient is recovering and is reassuring as the therapist. The last piece of information that this student gave answered what physical therapy meant to them,
“Physical therapy is a personal profession in which patients lean, both mentally and sometimes physically, on their therapist..."
and must follow their therapist’s direction in order to effectively recover....I hope to build meaningful long-lasting relationships with patients who can depend on me, knowing I am competent and will treat them in the most effective way...I want to inspire those that are injured and guide them through recovery to reach their full potential.” From working in a physical therapist office, I can definitely affirm this statement. When the therapist is going through the massage therapy and some range of motion procedures, the therapist is asking about their family members and talking with the patients the entire time. Some patients even mention how much they enjoy therapy, mostly because they can talk to the therapists.