The Physical Therapy Profession
Physical therapists, also known as physiotherapists, have strong scientific backgrounds, and they’re experts in the areas of the restoration, maintenance, and promotion of your physical function.
Physical therapists:
- Diagnose and manage movement dysfunction and enhance physical and functional abilities
- Restore, maintain, and promote not only optimal physical function but optimal wellness and fitness, and optimal quality of life as it relates to movement and health
- Prevent the onset, symptoms, and progression of impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities that may result from diseases, disorders, conditions, or injuries
In fact, physical therapists are leaders in rehabilitation; prevention, health maintenance, and programs that promote health, wellness, and fitness; and in professional and community organizations. In addition, physical therapists play important roles both in developing standards for physical therapy practice and in developing health care policy to ensure availability, accessibility, and optimal delivery of healthcare services. And did you know that physical therapy is covered by federal, state, and private insurance plans?
The service of a physical therapist can have a tremendous impact on your quality of life.
As clinicians, physical therapists engage in an examination process that includes:
- Taking the patient/client history
- Conducting a systems review
- Performing tests and measures to identify potential and existing problems
To establish diagnoses, prognoses, and plans of care, physical therapists perform evaluations, synthesizing the examination data and determining whether the problems to be addressed are within the scope of physical therapist practice. Based on their judgments, physical therapists:
- Provide interventions (the interactions and procedures used in managing and instructing patients/clients)
- Conduct re-examinations
- Modify interventions as necessary to achieve anticipated goals and expected outcomes
- Develop and implement discharge plans
Physical therapy can be provided only by qualified physical therapists (PTs) or by physical therapist assistants (PTAs) working under the supervision of a physical therapist.
