In fact, 98 percent of the nation’s physical therapy programs offer Doctor of Physical Therapy degrees, Dr. Sheryl Low, associate professor and department chair of physical therapy at CSUN (California State University Northbridge) told California’s Daily Sundial.*

Professor Low teaches Physical Therapy at one of the last four colleges in the Continental U.S. that has yet to transition from the Master’s in Physical Therapy to the DPT. All four operate under the California State University System.

Why can’t CSU get Physical Therapy Doctorate accreditation?

California’s “Master Plan” for higher education has prevented CSU schools from making the transition to the DPT, which lawmakers say will force Physical Therapy students out of state to obtain their degree.

Under the Master Plan, CSU schools are prohibited in awarding doctorates of any type, as state law confines doctoral graduates to the University of California post-secondary educational system- schools granted doctoral exclusivity by the state’s Donahoe Higher Education Act.

Lawmakers are also concerned that without expanding DPT offerings in the state, demand for physical therapy doctorates may outstrip supply; causing Californians to import DPT graduates from other states to perform critical physical therapy jobs.

DPT reform has passed in the California State Assembly and is headed to the State Senate for consideration

No date has been set for a vote in the Senate. But Assembly Bill 2382 aimed at reforming DPT restrictions has recently passed in the State Assembly 75 to 1, a victory for CSU educators and physical therapy students.

Assemblyman, Bob Blumenfield, said legislation needs to be passed by 2013 in order for CSU campuses to continue taking DPT admissions for the academic year 2013-2014.*

Related pages

• Therapy Career Resources
• California Physical Therapist Jobs

Recently, Travel Force posted a website resource that is receiving rave reviews. We call it our Go-to Guide for Foreign Educated physical therapists. It addresses the specific needs of non-U.S. born job seekers, looking to meet state licensure requirements in America’s 50 states for physical therapist careers.

Our Go-to Guide supplies qualified job seekers, educated in countries outside the U.S., including Canada and Mexico, direct links to state Physical Therapy Boards, applications and instructions for meeting US physical therapist license requirements in the nation’s leading destinations for allied healthcare careers.

Recruiting experts at Travel Force decided to expand this information, so that it includes the entire U.S.A.!

Visit Travel Force’s new career resource page today for foreign trained physical therapist license information in all 50 states. The information provided is detailed and comprehensive; it lets the foreign trained physical therapist instantly access licensing information, answers to frequently asked questions, detailed instructions, application forms and packets. Most applications may be submitted online.

Additionally, this career resource for foreign educated physical therapists includes direct links to the premier credentials evaluation agency, the Foreign Credentialing Commission on Physical Therapy (FCCPT), accepted and encouraged by a majority of U.S. states. Our new career resource cites, also, the importance the majority of U.S. states place on graduation from schools approved by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).

What else can foreign trained physical therapists expect to benefit from this comprehensive guide found in Travel Force’s long list of valuable career resources? We are happy to report that—because each state differs in its laws and approaches to obtaining a physical therapy license—a specific detail that helps set that state apart; by providing advanced notice of what to expect in a certain state, the physical therapist is better prepared to make application there without error, quickly and efficiently. See some examples below:

Did you know?

• Foreign educated physical therapists seeking licensure in Florida are no longer required to submit proof of English proficiency?

Or that

• In Louisiana no physical therapist may practice without first obtaining a temporary permit?

Foreign educated professionals seeking physical therapy jobs in America are going to find that, in many U.S. states, unique rules apply for meeting requirements set by individual state Physical Therapy Boards and, fortunately, Travel Force covers them all.

Don’t forget to check out the foreign trained physical therapy license page at Travel Force today—where we supply talented physical therapists, of all nationalities, with everything they need to meet state board requirements and hit the ground running in the physical therapy career of their dreams—WHEREVER their ambition decides to take them.

The purpose of inpatient rehab is, of course, to help the patient regain functions lost because of injury and illness, stemming from stroke, brain, various neurological conditions, recovery from orthopedic surgery, or spinal cord dysfunction.

Patient participation in the healing process is as critical as physical therapy is—yet perhaps the biggest challenge in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital stay is its brevity, averaging just 38 days for serious conditions.

Physical and occupational therapists are on task immediately, interviewing patients about their lifestyle and home environment, so they can customize a rehab treatment plan. Before the patient lands in the care of a PT, OT, or other specialist, chances are they were in a community hospital—an environment quite different from a rehab facility.

Rehab Professionals set the pace in patient’s recovery

Once a patient is matched with the right level of rehabilitative care, doctors, nurses and others in rehab jobs must help patients adjust to a radically changed pace in treatment and expectations. While hospitals manage nearly every aspect of a patient’s care, the rehab facility places most of patient recovery squarely in the hands of the patient. The patient must be committed to working hard with therapists, even if they find physical therapy grueling—a tall order considering that rehabilitation hospitals ensure patients receive and benefit from several hours of occupational and physical therapy daily, usually five days a week.

Insurers, like Medicare and Medicaid mandate patient participation, and may cut benefits if they fail to make enough progress. Since this is the last thing physical therapists and other specialists want to see happen, they help things along much as possible, providing the following in patient care:

• A smooth transition from community hospital to rehab hospital
• Pain management
• Physical therapy that helps patient regain independent function on all daily activities of life
• Motivation and emotional support
• Feedback to patient’s loved ones

A Positive Attitude + Increased Patient Involvement = Positive Rehab Experience

A good attitude is essential if the patient is to progress in daily physical therapy sessions and, depending on his or her condition or illness, expanded treatment that may include gait training and speech therapy.

What changes in the move from acute hospital care to Inpatient Rehab Facility:

• visiting hours
• meals
• learning names and roles of a new health care team
• noise level
• amount of privacy

Case Managers and patient’s family a critical part of recovery

Case Managers will also coordinate care at the inpatient rehab hospital, assisting in the design of specific programs that help patients regain their independence; also involved are the patient’s family and caregivers who may be expected to:

• Fetch comfortable clothing
• Attend team meetings to assess progress
• Participate in meeting set deadline for rehab goal
• Serve as a link to the community and outside world

Excellent Teamwork follows the patient home

Caregivers and family will continue to play an active role in the patient’s life after discharge from the Rehab hospital; they provide transportation to medical and therapy appointments, pick up and administer medications, help the patient in the bathroom, fix meals, adhere to an exercise schedule, as well as deal with financial issues incurred during the rehab process.

Without good nurses and excellent home health, creating a safe environment in the patient’s home would be next to impossible, but thanks to a talented rehab team, coupled with the patient’s strong will to get back to normal, anything and everything that’s good lies in wait.

Travel Force offers over 20 years of hospital and rehab staffing; placing physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech language pathologists in permanent and temporary positions in top-rated rehab hospitals and healthcare facilities across the U.S. Joint Commission certified, Travel Force provides staffing services to Outpatient Rehab Centers, Skilled Nursing Facilities, Sub Acute Settings, and university teaching facilities. Make a positive change in someone’s life today. Apply online for physical therapy jobs!

The program reaches out to young adults ages 18-21 and offers them on-the-job training and a paycheck. These young people can learn skills needed for a wide variety of positions including patient services, materials management, environmental services, clerical positions, food service, information servers, therapy jobs and rehab jobs at rehabilitation hospitals, and countless other potential career skills

In addition to healthcare job training, Project Search offers job coaching, educational opportunities, tips on work ethics and work-site rotations, all designed to help individuals with disabilities prepare for success in the healthcare job  industry.

Project Search started in 1996, the result of a partnership between Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, the Hamilton County Board of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities and others.

The program varies somewhat from location to location but a typical schedule might have participants working their healthcare jobs five days a week with two hours a day in a classroom setting where they learn job readiness skills. The rest of the day can be viewed as an internship where actual healthcare  job skills are learned. They are paid for their time.

Among the countless benefits the program offers is helping participants tackle that difficult transition from school years to joining the work force. The program has also given the families of these young people a lift and hope for their futures.

One of the more recent hospitals to join the program was St. Mary’s in Richmond, Virginia.

In June, six students completed the program. None received a diploma but rather something more important to them…a job. The six trained in departments ranging from nutrition and radiology to linens and pediatrics.

The list of jobs these Project Search participants qualify for is extensive. At rehabilitation hospitals any number of therapy jobs or rehab jobs could be deemed suitable. Students have trained in Family Care Centers, Coronary Care, Infection Control and almost every imaginable sector of the healthcare jobs industry.

Joshua Parker, a Project Search student/intern at St. Mary’s summed it up nicely when he called his involvement “the chance of a lifetime”.

Were you trained for a physical therapy career outside of the United States, and looking for a therapy job here? If yes, welcome to our Go-To guide, featuring information on the Top 10 states for physical therapy careers, as well as direct links to state licensure applications.

Top 10 States for PTs
You’ll note some states’ pages for foreign PTs answer frequently asked questions, while others route the foreign trained physical therapist directly to an online application, instructions for obtaining licensure or all of the above. Every state is slightly different in its approach, but the bottom line is the same: qualified applicants who meet state licensing authority criteria enjoy rewarding and high paying physical therapy careers!

California: The Physical Therapy Board of California assists foreign educated Physical Therapist graduates from accredited and non-accredited programs. You’ll note that this state’s page gives a shortlist of what you’ll need to get in order before you apply, plus a direct link to an online application.

Colorado: The Colorado Division of Registrations provides an online application and instructions on how to take the NPTE exam; it also lists basic requirements for foreign trained Physical Therapist licensure.

Florida: The Florida Department of Health answers FAQs for Foreign Trained Applicants and an “Apply for a license” link that helps you get started.

Iowa: The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Physical Therapist licensure information is the same for foreign and domestic applicants on the online application.

Illinois: The Division for Professional Registration handles licensure for all applicants, both domestic and foreign trained in physical therapy careers; this site does not provide a specific page intended for foreign trained PTs; however, they do provide contact information for sources who can answer your questions.

Massachusetts: The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation states that graduates of foreign physical therapy programs may be eligible for licensure in MA, but that the Board accepts only the evaluations prepared by the FCCPT

Maryland: The Maryland Board of Physical Therapy Examiners provides detailed instructions for foreign trained Physical Therapist applicants; you’ll notice two different licensure links for foreign PTs; one for “Licensure by Examination” and one for “Licensure by Endorsement”. You will also note this state accepts evaluation credentials sent by the FCCPT.

Ohio: The Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Athletic Trainers Board provides an online application for licensure as a PT or PTA, with instructions for foreign applicants on the PT applicant page.

Texas:  The Executive Council of Physical Therapy & Occupational Therapy Examiners provides instructions for foreign trained physical therapist applicants; they provide, on this page, an “Apply for a License Now” link.

Washington:  The Washington State Department of Health reviews all applications for Physical Therapist licensure, domestic and foreign trained, and provides a “packet” of all the materials you will need to work in Washington physical therapy jobs.

Working in Physical Therapy Assistant Jobs
For foreign students of physical therapy, the process of obtaining licensure is more difficult for PTAs (physical therapy assistants) than it is PTs—we covered the reason in a related press release, but you’ll want to read on for direct links to therapy career resources that exist to help you transcend this minor obstacle. Just do the following, in the following order, and you’ll soon be working in physical therapy assistant jobs:

Complete all educational requirements to become a Physical Therapist Assistant

• Apply for the National Physical Therapy Assistant Examination (NPTAE), pass it, then successfully take the National Physical Therapy Examination

And

• Apply for a student visa (F1 Visa) and then apply to accredited Physical Therapist Schools; Canadian physical therapists can work on a non-immigrant NAFTA Professional (TN) visa
• After you complete your education and prior to graduation, apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT), which allows you to work in the U.S. for up to one year.

Commonalities Shared by State Licensing Boards
Foreign trained applicants should have the following items in order before applying for state licensure:

• Social Security Numbers: you can apply for licensure and take the exam prior to getting a social security number; however, you will need the S-S-N prior to receiving your license.
• iBT TOEFL: a passing score on this test proves you are proficient in English. Minimum score required is 89, as well as accompanying minimum scores in the test’s four components: 24 in writing; 26 in speaking; 21 in reading comprehension; and 18 in listening comprehension
• A letter: from the applicant’s university stating that at the time the student received their first degree the language of instruction was English.
• Requirements for Credential Evaluations: Once you pass the NPTE exam, you must prove your education is on par with state standards.
• The Foreign Credentialing Commission on Physical Therapy (FCCPT): This non-profit organization assists many foreign trained PTs in showing their educational credentials are equivalent to current standards in the United States. See if your state board of physical therapy will work with them.

Remember that using therapy career resources, like each relevant link in this blog, can help you get to work fast!  For the foreign trained, as well as every professional working in travel physical therapy jobs, we wish you great luck in your new home!

Footnote: Some online physical therapy career resources cited here were taken from The Rehab License Network, which was created with the goal of making allied healthcare licensing information easier to obtain and/or maintain for rehab professionals.

Get Your Occupational Therapy Career Resources Here!

The road to occupational therapy is paved with the understanding that it’s up to you to ensure your patients live their lives to the fullest! How does an OT do that? By helping those they treat regain their independence and functionality.

Occupational therapists help patients with mental or physical disabilities improve their motor skills and better negotiate the challenges of home and work environments. If you’re reading this, it means you plan to jump start a successful occupational therapy career; you also intend to hit the ground running by reading up on the best occupational therapy schools, accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE).

The right occupational therapy school will prepare you for the national certification exam and board exam to be licensed to practice; your occupational therapy school will also help you use both theoretical and clinical skills to their utmost potential.

Come into this rewarding career by understanding the fundamental differences between being an OT and careers in physical therapy. Working in occupational therapy jobs means evaluating and improving your patient’s functional abilities, rather than directly treating the injury and its damaged muscles and tissues, like a PT.

Before getting acquainted with therapy career resources designed to launch your career into the occupational therapy jobs stratosphere, ask yourself if you have what it takes. Did you:

• Excel in your high school biology, chemistry and health classes?
• Major in a subject like biology, psychology, sociology, anthropology or anatomy in college?
• Are you in the midst of applying to a masters program with no less than a 3.3 GPA?

If you answered all three bullet points with a resounding “Yes!” than you’ll love attending occupational therapy school! But there’s more cause for budding OTs to get excited…

Prior to graduating from an accredited OT program, you can find work in occupational therapy assistant jobs, by earning a 2-year associate’s degree.

That’s just the icing on a whole cake’s worth of therapy career resources. Travel Force and other top staffing agencies for allied health professionals encourage occupational therapists to:

• Learn your state’s licensing policy so you don’t hit any bumps on the road on the way to earning the title of OTR: (Occupational Therapist Registered)
• Recognize what an employment edge you have as an OT! With the Baby Boomer population entering retirement and the elderly living longer, your services—as predicted by the US Bureau of Labor—are expected to rise by 26% between now and 2016!
• Before your occupational therapy career hunt begins, do some volunteer work in a health care facility and use that experience to help with the six months of clinical fieldwork necessary for graduation from most occupational therapy schools.

It also pays to know which age group or special needs group you wish to focus on as an OT. Your choices include:

• Patients who are permanently disabled with diseases like cerebral palsy or spinal cord injuries
• Children in schools
• Elderly patients in hospitals and nursing homes
• Patients who have trouble functioning in work settings
• Patients in mental health facilities or addiction centers

Whichever road you choose—and there are many—in your occupational therapy jobs, know that you are a living, breathing testimony to the American Occupational Therapy Association’s (AOTA) slogan. You and your patients are living life to its fullest!”

Whether players are competing at the World Cup or playing on their high school soccer team, physical therapists treat plenty of patients with sports-related injuries who play the game. Here’s a fact to back up the claim: the US Consumer Product Safety Commission reported more than 186,000 soccer related injuries in 2006 alone; 80% of those were owned by players less than 24 years of age. Soccer is a fun game and even better exercise, but videos like the one we’ve included here show what a fierce sport it can be. Watch a physical therapist at the top of her game, administering a third therapy session with a patient who tore her ACL, meniscus and MLC in a challenging game of soccer.

This video helps us appreciate a new reality impacting physical therapy careers: more girls are participating in high school and college sports—and it’s not just them creating more work for physical therapists, in what has become for PTs, a seemingly recession proof industry—it’s the Baby Boomers, too.  Born in an era stretching from the 1940’s to early 60’s, the Boomers are reaching retirement age and with it, the aches, pains and haunts of old sporting related injuries that keep physical therapists in high demand.

As most of you reading this already know, sports related injuries drive a lot of patient traffic through ERs and into the eventual care of physical therapists. If you’ve ever wondered what a PT feels like on the other end of the therapy equation, you can read about one of our own receiving post op therapy after sustaining a sports related injury.

CDC stats on sports related injuries may be grim, but physical therapy careers are providing rehabilitative light at the end of that tunnel. PTs have a lot to feel good about; the press they receive is incredibly positive. In November of 2009, CNN ranked physical therapy jobs at # 7 on the list of America’s best occupations. Since then, physical therapy careers are a continuously rising star; however, experts advise that landing a successful PT career requires a lifelong commitment to continued education. The APTA encourages specialization in one of 8 areas of physical therapy with the long-term goal of (the majority of) PTs earning doctorates by 2020.

Keeping your eyes on the prize is well worth it, as evidenced by the turnout at this year’s American Physical Therapy Association’s Annual Conference & Expo in Boston. Whether it’s the influx of young female athletes matriculating into colleges or more Baby Boomers seeking physical therapy, business is booming for PTs. Observes remarked that the conference made them momentarily forget the country is in a recession; the event reported a surplus of physical therapy jobs in home health systems and large medical centers across the country.

When it comes to finding physical therapy jobs, seeking education at top physical therapy schools or playing the sports that challenge our bodies enough to one day seek physical therapy ourselves, the sporting motto from Nike said it best, “just do it!”

Side note: Until mid-July, we hope you enjoy FIFA. Feel free to post a comment about who you hope wins the World Cup!

When you’re a qualified physical therapist the whole world is your oyster—the interesting part of that old phrase being that there’s more than one pearl when it comes to the career choices inside your field. Whether it’s permanent staff hospital work, travel therapist careers or branching out to start a PT private practice, you and other professionals in this industry will be happy to uncover the benefits unique to your physical therapist career path.

Permanent Physical Therapy Jobs
If you’re a PT looking to build seniority in a hospital setting, rehabilitation center, physical therapy clinic and/or skilled nursing facility, permanent physical therapy jobs offer the perfect professional arena. Permanent PTs enjoy all the benefits, excitement and prestige of their traveling counterparts, with strong likelihood of making a recognized name for themselves locally. Start a physical therapy job—custom made for those who like to stay—or go—by applying at any of these top staffing agencies: Travel Force Staffing, American Traveler or 50 States Staffing

Travel Therapist Career
Oh, the places you’ll go! Let’s start by describing what you can expect from a Travel therapist career—our details are just a sampling of limitless possibilities; it is said of physical therapy jobs, after all, that it’s more than just a career—it’s a lifestyle! PTs on the road, traveling America as they heal and comfort their patients, experience plenty of advantages, like the excitement of a new location as often as every 8 weeks, or after 6 months. What happens if you like it too much to leave? At Travel Force, PTs often have the option of going permanent.

PT Private Practice
An independent physical therapist career is a testimony to the exceptional growth and evolution of physical therapy in the last 50 years. The APTA site offers a PT in motion page that advises on how to overcome the challenges of private practice start-up. Remember the title that 1970s book popularized, “What color is your parachute?” Well, the great thing about your physical therapy career is that you already know—you just have to pick the best career choice and apply it, so that you can touch a patient’s life today!

Physical Therapy Career Path
No matter where your physical therapy jobs take you—and diversity and potential abound as staffing agencies work with individuals in all stages of their physical therapy career—it’s a good idea to commit yourself to lifetime learning. With the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting a 27% climb in the PT field through 2016, PTs are expected—now more than ever—to keep their competitive edge via continued competency and learning.

Career Resources a Terrible Thing to Waste
Travel Force offers a wealth of information on the DPT degree, as well as how to specialize in one of 8 physical therapy certifications that open up a world of possibility for your physical therapist salary, hiring potential, and, most importantly, the ability to provide your patients with the superior level of care they deserve. Don’t forget to look toward the APTA for career resources. Their Vision 2020 plan—one that would like to see the majority of PTs earn their DPT degrees by 2020 has been acknowledged as a leading reason some may look to opening a PT private practice.

Physical therapy students at the University of Kansas Medical Center are among the hi-tech wave of entrepreneurs, engineering and medical professionals to take advantage of Second Life — an online community computer program where participants create their own avatars and manipulate them in job training drills, business conferences and group study projects.

So far the software lives up to its hype, dramatically cutting costs for businesses (like hospitals and clinics) accustomed to the transportation and lodging expenses associated with more traditional methods of preparing PTs for physical therapy jobs.

Educating groups face-to-face takes a toll on the environment, using more of the planet’s resources to ensure everyone meets; the School of Occupational Therapy at Thomas Jefferson University dodged this by using Second Life in its Backpack Awareness week.

Sometimes what starts with a flicker results in a flame—more occupational therapy jobs may be pleasantly impacted by cutting-edge technologies just like this.

Thanks to Second Life, increasing numbers of allied healthcare professionals—those in physical therapy jobs being no exception—are given enviable access to virtual reality training, and its making a huge difference in the span of what they can learn—as well as who they learn it with; that is to say that Second Life makes it possible to train with students from all over the world at the same time; read more about it in the Kansan.com!

OTs and physical therapists new to the virtual reality training scene will be happy to know that learning is a matter of manipulating standard contemporary office equipment, such as headsets, the keyboard and computer mouse; a class instructor will be present as an avatar as well, creating situations inside your shared virtual clinics, or perhaps something on a much larger scale—what Second Life creators call “an island”.

What does an island look like?

If you’re imaging something from Gilligan’s Island, think again. For physical therapy students at Kansas Medical Center, a Second Life Island features fully equipped exam rooms, furnished lobbies and realistic operating equipment. These aspiring PTs train in houses, specially designed for conducting home assessments for handicapped patients, which better prepare them for preventing patient falls before they happen.

Once a PT logs into the virtual world, he or she can walk the corridors of a true-to-life hospital, clicking on different objects, such as blood pressure cuffs, oxygen masks and laryngoscopes; learning how to attach such items is an important part of the virtual reality training journey.

Hospitals can’t help comparing a virtual world education to more traditional methods; Kansas is leading by example, with their physical therapy students and instructors finding that Second Life benefits don’t just cut costs, but promote more rapid learning in a more secure environment—worrying about security is a thing of the past, as virtual reality training requires no advanced booking or threat of vandalism and theft.

Who knows? Physical therapy schools near you could acquire—if you’ll pardon the turn of phrase—a Second Life—and use virtual reality training for student poster presentations and simulations of Community Living Centers, filled with virtual patients. Tell your instructors about this article.

Faculty awareness is how new learning systems like this find their way into the classroom—real or virtual!