Helping patients improve their ability to perform the activities of daily living and other types of motion is an important part of the physical therapist’s role in health care. The physical therapist works with patients who have certain diseases that affect their ability to move as well as with people who have injured themselves during sports or through accidents. Physical therapists can also promote fitness and health and wellbeing.
Patients who have diseases like spina bifida, cerebral palsy, arthritis, or multiple sclerosis – all which affect the ability to move – often have physical therapy sessions to help improve range of motion and muscle strength. Other patients use physical therapists to assist in the recovery process after a strain, sprain, fractured bone, or back or neck injury. Many health care providers include physical therapists on the health care team when caring for patients with any of these health conditions.
Therapeutic exercises may be an important part of the strategies that physical therapists employ to treat their patients but there are other techniques that can be employed as well. Electrotherapeutic strategies, assistive and adaptive therapies and technologies, and functional training can also be incorporated in the management of the various physical problems. Physical therapists also evaluate a patient’s function and develop strategies for intervention; these therapists can also create physical strategies so that patients can maintain as high a level of physical functioning and can continue to complete activities of daily living.
After obtaining an undergraduate degree, a person interested in becoming a physical therapist needs to complete a physical therapy program at an accredited school. These programs include basic science classes but also include coursework in the behavioral sciences and clinical experiences; after completing the required classes, the person may receive a Masters degree or a doctorate degree – depending on the program. Once he or she obtains a state-issued license, a physical therapist may open a practice or join a PT or physician group practice.
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