Physical therapists offer a range of services but the key among them includes restoring function to patients, improving mobility, relieving patients of all kinds of pain and lastly they avert eternal physical disability especially to patients with diseases or serious injuries. Physical therapists offer their services in close association with other medical practitioners such as nurses and doctors in a bid to ensure that patients regain their natural good health. This research seeks to investigate physiotherapy career in detail and elaborate on its training, requirements before entry into service and the challenges in the field. Physical therapists form an important part in rehabilitating and providing treatment to the patient that suffers from chronic disease or a serious injury best resume writing service
Details about Physical Therapy Career
Physical therapists offer a range of services to patients as indicated above but besides the above mentioned, they also review all the medical history and records of patients and check for any referrals as well as doctor’s or surgeon’s notes (Gregg 78). They also identify dysfunctional movements of their patients simply by observing them while they walk or stand and by paying keen attention to their immediate concerns. Physical therapists also establish plans for patients’ care that clearly outline the goals for the patients and the anticipated outcome. They also include the time limit for the accomplishment of the same goals. They also use exercises, stretching drills as well as hands-on rehabilitation and equipment to relieve the patients’ pain and enhance their mobility. These exercises prevent further injury and enhance wellness (Gregg 78). Physical therapists enlighten the patients’ family of what to anticipate and the best way of coping with the patients’ recovery process.
Soldiers all over the world remain vulnerable to injuries due to the nature of their job. Soldiers get hurt while on battlefields, while training and in other activities that they engage in the course of their duty. This explains why physical therapy for the soldiers in the US Army remains a crucial service (Fitzek 56). This existing necessity greatly formed my career choice. People have always wanted to offer their physiotherapy services to men and women who put their lives in line all for the well-being of the whole country.
These men and women need to regain their health and continue offering their valuable services. Most of the injuries soldiers suffer from are gunshots. Bullets have the capacity to cause complete paralysis or disabilities to the victims. In extreme cases, bullets may necessitate individuals to take amputation as a last resort (Gregg 78). Patients duration of recovery differ from one patient to another depending on the degree of the injuries suffered and the body healing mechanism.
Soldiers may take their physical therapy from the comfort of their homes or at a restrained physical therapy facility mostly located in hospitals. They need more than just physical therapy offered by experts. Soldiers need psychological support as well to enable them overcome the trauma that comes along with their injuries. They experience many horrors while in the battlefield that causes them psychological disturbances in their post-war life. Soldiers need extensive counseling to enable them cope with horrors they encountered in the war field. This enables the soldiers to accept and come to terms with the events of their lives thus restoring their normal lives. Losing friends in the battlefield weighs the soldiers down in a great way and it takes time for them to come to terms with such realities (Gregg 78). Establishing a plan that would provide physical therapy to soldiers as well as psychological support remains one of the main driving forces and the main objective of joining the world of physical therapy.
Training one to get up early in the morning is an important quality. Physiotherapists draw different schedules that help them attend different patients depending on the patients’ suitability. Some draw plans that require them to attend their patients very early in the morning before they embark on their other activities (Swain 45). It requires commitment to remain disciplined to the schedule and to ensure that there is consistency in the program as anyfailure to observe consistency while administering physical therapy treatment may even complicate the situation or even make it worse.
Failure to stick to the schedule may cast a gleam picture on one’s professional competence. Timeliness is a measure of commitment and professionalism and thus failing to meet patients at the stipulated time provides a fertile environment for them to start casting aspersions to the expert’s competence (Gregg 78). The work with the soldiers’ is important because it will provide one with career challenges that will help develop one’s skills. Challenges enable one to be innovative and design other methods of handling issues. This will in turn widen person’s scope in the area of physical therapy and make him even more competent than other counterparts.
Physical therapy as a career offers the society a wide range of services and benefits in that it helps the society to accept the situation that their loved ones go through. It enables the society to cope with the new conditions that face their loved ones. The career also teaches the society on the basics that patients’ needs in terms of physical therapy (Gregg 78). It educates society on how they can help administer physiotherapy to patients under home based care. Some patients prefer to take their physiotherapy treatment at their homes and this is where the society comes in handy.
Physical therapy is also important to the society as it provides career opportunities. At least every hospital in the world today has a physical therapy unit that helps patients to recover mobility and ease their pain. This employment enables individuals in the society to earn living (Gregg 78). The career further promotes general good health of the society. The main objective of administering physical therapy is to enable individuals to restore their mobility, ease pain on their bodies among other benefits.
Promoting overall good health of the society also includes advising individuals of what to do to avoid certain preventable injuries and disabilities. The job affects the rest of us in the sense that it enables us to accept the outcome of various medical conditions that befall our loved ones. Cancer patients and individuals suffering from backbone complications usually end up with body paralysis (Fitzek 56). Physiotherapy in this case helps us understand the situation at hand and support such individuals humanly possible. Some recover their mobility while some do not and that explains why educating the society of how to anticipate the outcomes of physiotherapy exercise and supporting the patients come in handy. People may be interested in this career because it is descent, honorable and is well rewarded. Physical therapists are some of the most paid individuals in the healthcare sector. This is because they offer vital services that finalize the treatment and healing process of the patient (Radomski 97). The demand for physical therapy services may also explain why many individuals are interested in the career.
The advancement in technology has come a long with its challenges for instance it has increased the demand for a fast moving automobile that has also increased the number of accidents. Increase in accidents results in the increase in individuals requiring physiotherapy as the final step to their full health restoration. This kind of demand explains why individuals may want to join the physical therapy career (Paz 34). This will also lower the pressure on the current practitioners who are currently overstretched in their line of duty. Individuals who wish to serve the community may find this career very interesting. Community service on voluntary basis may explain why individuals join the career. Religious organization that target to alleviate individuals from suffering may find this career path ideal; for instance, there are some Christian organization which train their faithful on various health related courses so that they may offer volunteer service to patients (Willard 41).
The other reason why individuals may want to join this career is so that they acquire the skills necessary in handling patients who require these services at a lower cost. Acquiring physical therapy skills enables individuals to administer the services at relatively lower costs as compared to the costs incurred when one hires an expert attached to a given health facility. Experts attached to health facilities charge expensively due to the high demand for their service. Individuals may opt to take this career path so that they be able to offer these services to their family members at a home based level (Tecklin 71). It is easier and convenient for patients to attend their physical therapy treatment in home environment because it offers the benefit of a familiar environment. It will be like first aid, which has now become a basic skill to every member of the household. This will ensure that patients are exposed to the opportunity of recovering fully to their previous health status.
Individuals also opt to take this career path for individual fulfillment and self-actualization. Some individuals prefer careers whose outcomes they can monitor and observe. For instance, one will feel fulfilled to see that he/she has helped a previously disabled accident victim to restore his full health, including mobility (Pasquina 65). There is great fulfillment in serving humanity than in any other aspect activity. Some medical practitioners such as nurses may also choose to take on physical therapy to complement their careers. Nursing goes hand in hand, physiotherapy in that after treating a patient the next step is to ensure that the very patient restores his previous lifestyle. It becomes convenient if both treatment and physiotherapy come from the same person. An undergraduate requirement for physical therapy education entails studying a full coursework in a science related course.
To become a physical therapist, one has to undertake a science related coursework that may include anatomy and physiology or biology. One may also opt to undertake a coursework in exercise physiology, methods of physical education and lastly methods of personal wellness. Physical therapists need graduate degrees before they can enroll in further education. The curriculum takes three years for the trainees to go through their coursework (Gregg 78). Continued education requirements include taking accredited programs from the Commission on Accreditation of Physiotherapy Education. Voluntary hours have now become a pre-requisite for further education in the field physical therapy. These voluntary hours serve as experience to the learner.
To become a licensed physical therapist, one requires to have graduated with an accredit program. The individual is also expected to have attained a passing score on the Physical Therapy Assessment. Majority of the states will further require that one takes a jurisprudence exam that will assess the individuals on their understanding of the law of the State. The American Body of Physical Therapy Specialists does certification (Fitzek 56). The assessment certificate acquired after taking the jurisprudence assessment is the only legal requirement in the field of physical therapy. Even though the physical therapy career requires a lot scientific study, especially on human anatomy, the career is very fulfilling. Physiotherapists are found almost everywhere ranging from schools, hospitals, fitness centers among other places. The career also provides first-hand benefits to the society in that it helps restore health condition of an individual.
Society has advanced so quickly in terms of technology but this advancement has also come along with a set of challenges. Increased human comfort that has resulted in the development of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, as well as increased technological advancement has increases the number of accidents and injuries. The casualties of all these advancements require also advanced medical knowledge that comes from the field of physical therapy. Physical therapy career had for long been taken for granted, as studies had not fully revealed to the society the significance of this kind of treatment (Radomski 90). Patients and medical practitioners were operating on limited information that placed little emphasis on administering physical therapy. The society also had a false perception of physical therapy as a reserve of a few. They viewed physical therapy treatment as a reserve for the wealthy patients who had extra cash to spend on that kind of extended treatment.
The society also held on the false information that perceived physical therapy as a reserve of cancer patients who developed difficulty in walking after undergoing the chemotherapy treatment. Much has been done to educate the society on the importance of physical education; the progress that the society has made in accepting this kind of treatment is enormous. Individuals now perceive physical therapy differently and seriously (Pasquina 66). Disabilities that can be corrected have no place in the modern world. Individuals have taken up training in the field, which has increased the human resources in the field that has greatly reduced pressure on the few experts that have been before. The government is one of the beneficiaries of this seemingly new career. The military has also benefited a lot from the services of physical therapists. In the past, many competent soldiers retired with multiple disabilities arising from bullets lodged in various parts of their bodies. Some developed complete paralysis from injuries they sustained during training or while in battlefields (Fitzek 85).
Cases of veterans committing suicide were rife before the advancement of this kind of treatment. Such cases have since gone down drastically as service members have access to this service that gives them hope even in the face of disability and other psychological disturbances that arise from their war experiences (Bausch 78). Many were ignorant of the fact that their conditions have a medical solution called physical therapy that could restore their mobility and ease their pain permanently. This discovery has really helped the soldiers to restore their health and live normal lives even after service. Technological advancement in the field of medicine has seen the invention of machines that help patients taking physical therapy treatment to recover from their injuries. Physical therapists also have adequate training materials and equipment that has enhanced skills transfer. This career has now given hope to people with disabilities as it promises a better future for them (Fisher 63).
The requirements for taking the course have also been eased thus allowing many students to enroll. Flexibility of the legal requirements has seen many individuals taking up the profession. Physical therapy treatment is popular in many parts of the world, but some more public education on its importance is required. The society still has a long way to accept the benefits provided by this kind of treatment.
