PT, PTA, PTT, and Physiotherapist
I’m confused about who does what when I go to my physical therapy appointments. What exactly is everyone’s job?
Individuals on a PT team can have a variety of duties, backgrounds, and skills. I’m going to stick with comparing 4 of them for now: physical therapist (PT), physical therapist assistant (PTA), physical therapist tech or aide (PTT), physiotherapist.
First, I want to look at PT and physiotherapist one-on-one. So, what are the differences?
… NONE! This is a trick question! Physiotherapist is just another name for physical therapist. American English tends to default to “physical therapist,” while Non-American English usually uses “physiotherapist.”
Now that that’s out of the way, I can make use of another handy-dandy chart.
Please remember that the costs and salaries listed can vary A LOT. There are always variations depending on where you live, who you work for, if you get scholarships or grants or special loans, if you are in-state or out-of-state, if you have to switch degrees or take extra classes or have extenuating circumstances. If you’re really lucky, you have family that was able and willing to put aside money for you to go to school or buy a car or do any helpful grown-up thing.
All of these people have their own role to play but work together with the goal of improving the quality of life for their patients.
Image courtesy of Creative Commons
And, just in case you’re curious like me, here are the APTA official definitions for these jobs:
Physical Therapist: “Physical therapists are movement experts who improve quality of life through prescribed exercise, hands-on care, and patient education.
Physical therapists diagnose and treat individuals of all ages, from newborns to people at the end of life. Many patients have injuries, disabilities, or other health conditions that need treatment. But PTs also care for people who simply want to become healthier and to prevent future problems.
Physical therapists examine each person and then develops a treatment plan to improve their ability to move, reduce or manage pain, restore function, and prevent disability.”
Physical Therapist Assistant: “PTAs implement selected components of patient/client interventions (treatment), obtain data related to the interventions provided, and make modifications in selected interventions either to progress the patient/client as directed by the physical therapist or to ensure patient/client safety and comfort.”
Physical Therapist Technician: “Physical therapy aides are any support personnel who perform designated tasks related to the operation of the physical therapy service. Tasks are activities that do not require the clinical decision making of the physical therapist or the clinical problem solving of the physical therapist assistant.”
Next is a long-ish list of links I used to piece together all this info. If you’re not into it, stop reading now! If you want to dive deeper into this topic, check out a few of these:
https://www.webpt.com/blog/therapist-assistant-vs-therapy-tech-whats-the-difference/
https://www.apta.org/your-career/careers-in-physical-therapy/becoming-a-pt
https://physical-therapy-assistant.org/how-much-is-a-physical-therapist-assistant-salary/#PTAvsPT
https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes312022.htm
https://www.vocationaltraininghq.com/cost/physical-therapist-assistant-training/
