Physiotherapy as a back up career

[Guest tantastic]

Hi everyone:

 

I was wondering if there were people out there who have done physiotherapy. In case I don't get into med school (and its not looking like I will:\ ) I was wondering about physiotherapy.

 

Can anyone tell me about the prospects of opening your own rehab clinic one day, the satisfaction in the work, the level of demand for physiotherapists and finally the type of salary one can expect when starting and then to senior positions for both hospitals and private clinics.

 

Thank you very much for the help!

 

Tara

[Guest RAK2005]

Ok, this is something that I have talked about a few times in the past, so I'll re-iterate some of the points that are most relevant.

 

First off, I always tell people to make a real go of getting into their primary career choice. This is for obvious reasons. Also, with most PT programs switching to Masters designations, the GPA (UWO GPA cut-off 3.63) and extra-curric requirements are becoming more difficult (not to mention an overall reduction of seats - eg. UWO went from 64 to 44-8 seats).

 

As for your questions, there are many ways to enjoy PT, which is a very rewarding career. Owning a clinic is something that a number of my classmates are looking into, or already are part-owners. Typically a physio gains some work experience, gets his or her name out into the community and finds partners (physicians, chiros, RMTs, other PTs) to share costs and create a referral base. This is obviously a time-intensive endeavour and can be risky (there were a lot of clinics in TO that shut down in the mid 90s d/t saturation of the market).

 

As for salary, this REALLY varies. I am only familiar with Ontario salary scales, but here is a ROUGH estimate:

 

Hospital salaries usually start in the mid to high 40s, and with a lot of experience/time can hit a ceiling of about 70K. IN private practice in TO, most of my friends make b/w 50K-90K. A good friend of mine will be making approx. 100K + this year (first year grad!) as he is in a busy clinic and works on a high percentage and gets extra money for marketing and referals he drums up.

 

I know that is a huge range, but that is the nature of the job. Because the fees are private (unless it is post-op, hospital-based therapy) the ceiling for income is limited only by your time, what the insurance companies pay, and number of patients.

 

As for time demand, most PTs work a very standard work-day, usually 37.5 Hrs per week. This is an attractive side of the profession, as it leaves lots of time for your non-work lives. As you climb the ladder and add on admin duties, your workhours will increase. Also (as I mentioned) owning a clinic is more than a full-time job.

 

Satisfaction from the job comes from working in healthcare, increasing people's function/quality of life, life-long learning, and that you get to work one-on-one with patients with less time constraints that a physician often deals with.

 

Hope that helps !

[Guest tantastic]

Thanks alot for the response. That's great, I really appreciate it!

 

I was wondering if you knew why Western reduced the number of seats? Was it because there is an oversupply of physiotherapists out there? Are other schools doing the same?

 

You mentioned that many clinics shut down in the 1990's. Is that still the case are clinics still closing down.

 

Finally what kind of extra cirric stuff should one do to increase the chances of acceptance.

 

Sorry to bother you friend, but I really appreciate all of this inside info you are providing me

[Guest RAK2005]

No problem at all. That's why we're here

 

As for the reduced number of seats, this was due to the fact that the Faculty of Graduate studies requires a certain faculty to student ratio, and the only way to attain a financially appropriate solution was to reduce seats. As for the job market, and physio supply&demand, the current situation is still quite good. I am unaware of any recent grads who were unable to find work after graduation.

 

As for other schools, I know that most of the Ontario schools are planning on switching to the Masters designation (U of T and Mac are already there, with Queen's to follow in the next few years). I am unsure if their respective faculties will reduce the number of seats.

 

Lastly, extra-currics should be geared toward healthcare volunteering, preferably something in rehab/PT... I believe UWO requires 50 hours or more of volunteer work in a related field for application. Reference letters are also required.

 

The most heavily weighted criteria for acceptance is still GPA. I'm not sure if extra-currics are even factored into the final acceptance equation. The most accurate info will be on respective school's websites. You can always call admissions too.

 

Best of Luck !

[Guest jmh2005]

Much of what I would have said has already been mentioned is above posts but I thought that I would add a bit.

 

As a former occupational therapist (actually I still do have my licence and see about 2 pts/month), I would highly advise one who is very seriously considering Medicine to just aim for medicine. Initally after my undergrad I thought that I wanted to be a therapist, I applied, got in right away after undergrad, so naturally I figured it was the right step for me (however, in the back of my mind I always thought of medicine, yet didn't apply...). After going through the program at MAC (which is excellent and PBL based, as is meds) and working for a year, this was not what I wanted. I know that there are tremendous differences between PT and OT, and some will say that OT is not quite as "exciting" and "respected" as PT, but basically its the same deal. I wanted to do OT because I like the 'holistic' aspect and thought that cognitive rehab and psych was interesting as well...I was also worried that with PT, I would be just prescribing exercise to everyone..

 

Salaries do range, and the private sector is quite well paying, but not always. The work can be quite a range of things as well, usually lots of paper work. You can work in clinic and make a tonne of cash but then you are likely only seeing a patient for 5 minutes then handing them off to a Kin. PT and OT require much more hands on than that in my opinion to be rewarding.

 

You need to do what will make you happy, but most of all, go for what you really want, maybe it will take two or three applications, but it will still save you time in the end. If you do decide the PT route then find out that its not what you thought, you will find yourself having to explain why you feel the need to make a career choice, in order to get into medicine, which can be a bit trickier depending on where you apply. So if you apply to meds and PT and get into only PT, take a long hard look at yourself...make sure that is the right decision...it is harder to gain admission to meds if you are currently a professional student vs. being done and having practiced a year or two, in my opinion. Basically, you are taking the spot of someone who really does want to be there.

 

Currently there are 4 OTs, 5 PTs, 11 RNs, 1 DC, 1 LLB, 1 SW, 1 RD in my class most of whom all worked at least 1 year (with the exception of 1 who was in the middle of PT when she got into meds).

With all that being said, I learned a tonne in my OT education and 3 years of practice that I know has already made me a better med student and will make me a much better Physician, so looking back now I feel I have that much more to give to my future patients having worked in both home care, acute care and rehabiliation.

 

...But if it is time that you wish to save, as well as money, just make the choice that is right for you so that you don't have to go back to follow your real dream. Where there is a will there is a way, follow your heart and you will do what is right for you.

 

Best of luck to all!

 

J

[Guest kellyl20]

Always have a back up plan b/c think of what you will be doing if you do not get into med. Both my relatives were in Physio and Pharm respectively, did not have to finish before being accepted into med; although finishing the degree first is ok too.

[Guest kela]

It is important to have a back up plan. However, with the shortages of health care professionals and education cuts it is a shame to take up a spot (in another field - ie. PT/OT) from somebody who truely wants to be there and stay with that profession...

 

What do you all think?

[Guest Shahenshah]

I agree it is a shame to do that..but don't you think it is also a shame that inspite of the health crisis (specifically lack of doctors), many canadians still have to sometimes opt to pay big bucks and go to other countries and get their MD..and if that's not bad, the fact that it is then almost impossible to come back and serve your country is surely a shame too..so what choices are the people who don't get in to med school left with..having a back up in other healthfields (or anything else) is definitely one option for these students if they don't want to risk going to an offshore school..and of course this decision of theirs can trickle down to having an effect on other students interested in other health care fields...The question of fairness or 'who gets really screwed' can be debated over and over again, but I believe there is a higher level of administration (eg govt) that is truly the one at fault here..once they get their act together, maybe this would be less of a problem...just my 2 cents