Physical Therapist Assistant

Alternative Job Titles for Physical Therapist Assistants

• Certified Physical Therapist Assistant (CPTA)
• Home Care Physical Therapy Assistant
• Home Health Physical Therapist Assistant
• Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant (LPTA)
• Licensed Physical Therapy Assistant
• Outpatient Physical Therapist Assistant
• Per Diem Physical Therapist Assistant (Per Diem PTA)
• Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA)
• Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA)

Job Tasks and Activities for Physical Therapist Assistants

• Adjust positions of patients on beds or tables.
• Administer active or passive manual therapeutic exercises, therapeutic massage, aquatic physical therapy, or heat, light, sound, or electrical modality treatments, such as ultrasound.
• Administer basic health care or medical treatments.
• Administer therapy treatments to patients using hands or physical treatment aids.
• Administer traction to relieve neck or back pain, using intermittent or static traction equipment.
• Assess physical conditions of patients to aid in diagnosis or treatment.
• Assist patients to dress, undress, or put on and remove supportive devices, such as braces, splints, or slings.
• Assist patients with daily activities.
• Attend educational events to update medical knowledge.
• Attend or conduct continuing education courses, seminars, or in-service activities.
• Clean patient rooms or patient treatment rooms.
• Clean work area and check and store equipment after treatment.
• Communicate patient status to other health practitioners.
• Communicate with or instruct caregivers or family members on patient therapeutic activities or treatment plans.
• Confer with other professionals to plan patient care.
• Confer with physical therapy staff or others to discuss and evaluate patient information for planning, modifying, or coordinating treatment.
• Document client health or progress.
• Document patient information, such as notes on their progress.
• Encourage patients during therapeutic activities.
• Engage patients in exercises or activities.
• Fit patients for assistive devices.
• Fit patients for orthopedic braces, prostheses, or supportive devices, such as crutches.
• Hold patients to ensure proper positioning or safety.
• Instruct patients in proper body mechanics and in ways to improve functional mobility, such as aquatic exercise.
• Instruct, motivate, safeguard, and assist patients as they practice exercises or functional activities.
• Inventory medical supplies or equipment.
• Measure patients' range-of-joint motion, body parts, or vital signs to determine effects of treatments or for patient evaluations.
• Monitor medical equipment to ensure proper functioning.
• Monitor operation of equipment and record use of equipment and administration of treatment.
• Monitor patient progress or responses to treatments.
• Move patients to or from treatment areas.
• Observe patients during treatments to compile and evaluate data on their responses and progress and provide results to physical therapist in person or through progress notes.
• Perform clerical duties, such as taking inventory, ordering supplies, answering telephone, taking messages, or filling out forms.
• Perform clerical work in medical settings.
• Perform postural drainage, percussions, or vibrations or teach deep breathing exercises to treat respiratory conditions.
• Perform therapeutic wound care.
• Prepare medical instruments or equipment for use.
• Prepare medical reports or documents.
• Prepare patient treatment areas for use.
• Prepare treatment areas and electrotherapy equipment for use by physiotherapists.
• Record patient medical histories.
• Secure patients into or onto therapy equipment.
• Teach medical procedures or medical equipment use to patients.
• Teach medical procedures to healthcare personnel.
• Train patients in the use of orthopedic braces, prostheses, or supportive devices.
• Train patients, family members, or caregivers in techniques for managing disabilities or illnesses.
• Transport patients to and from treatment areas, lifting and transferring them according to positioning requirements.

Interests for Physical Therapist Assistants

• Social
  Helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others.
• Realistic
  Designing, building, or repairing equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors.
• Conventional
  Following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting.

Skills for Physical Therapist Assistants

In order of importance

• Active Listening
  Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
  Importance: 75/100
• Social Perceptiveness
  Understanding people's reactions.
  Importance: 69/100
• Monitoring
  Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
  Importance: 69/100
• Speaking
  Talking to others.
  Importance: 69/100
• Writing
  Writing things for co-workers or customers.
  Importance: 56/100
• Active Learning
  Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
  Importance: 56/100
• Service Orientation
  Looking for ways to help people.
  Importance: 56/100
• Reading Comprehension
  Reading work-related information.
  Importance: 56/100
• Critical Thinking
  Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
  Importance: 56/100
• Complex Problem Solving
  Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
  Importance: 53/100
• Coordination
  Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
  Importance: 53/100
• Judgment and Decision Making
  Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
  Importance: 53/100
• Instructing
  Teaching people how to do something.
  Importance: 53/100
• Time Management
  Managing your time and the time of other people.
  Importance: 50/100
• Persuasion
  Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
  Importance: 50/100
• Learning Strategies
  Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
  Importance: 47/100
• Systems Analysis
  Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
  Importance: 44/100
• Operations Monitoring
  Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
  Importance: 44/100
• Systems Evaluation
  Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
  Importance: 44/100
• Management of Personnel Resources
  Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
  Importance: 41/100
• Quality Control Analysis
  Testing how well a product or service works.
  Importance: 41/100
• Science
  Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
  Importance: 35/100
• Negotiation
  Bringing people together to solve differences.
  Importance: 31/100
• Mathematics
  Using math to solve problems.
  Importance: 31/100
• Equipment Selection
  Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
  Importance: 28/100
• Troubleshooting
  Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
  Importance: 28/100
• Operation and Control
  Using equipment or systems.
  Importance: 28/100
• Management of Material Resources
  Managing equipment and materials.
  Importance: 22/100
• Operations Analysis
  Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
  Importance: 22/100
• Management of Financial Resources
  Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
  Importance: 22/100
• Technology Design
  Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
  Importance: 22/100
• Equipment Maintenance
  Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
  Importance: 19/100
• Programming
  Writing computer programs.
  Importance: 19/100
• Repairing
  Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
  Importance: 16/100

Knowledge for Physical Therapist Assistants

In order of importance

• Customer and Personal Service
  Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  Importance: 88/100
• Therapy and Counseling
  Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
  Importance: 81/100
• English Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  Importance: 80/100
• Education and Training
  Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  Importance: 73/100
• Psychology
  Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  Importance: 66/100
• Medicine and Dentistry
  Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  Importance: 63/100
• Computers and Electronics
  Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  Importance: 61/100
• Biology
  Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
  Importance: 60/100
• Administrative
  Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
  Importance: 49/100
• Public Safety and Security
  Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  Importance: 46/100
• Administration and Management
  Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  Importance: 40/100
• Law and Government
  Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
  Importance: 39/100
• Sociology and Anthropology
  Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
  Importance: 37/100
• Mathematics
  Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  Importance: 36/100
• Physics
  Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
  Importance: 35/100
• Personnel and Human Resources
  Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  Importance: 28/100
• Chemistry
  Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
  Importance: 26/100
• Communications and Media
  Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
  Importance: 24/100
• Economics and Accounting
  Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
  Importance: 24/100
• Geography
  Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
  Importance: 23/100
• Sales and Marketing
  Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  Importance: 21/100
• Foreign Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
  Importance: 20/100
• Philosophy and Theology
  Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
  Importance: 20/100
• Mechanical
  Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
  Importance: 18/100
• Engineering and Technology
  Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
  Importance: 12/100
• Design
  Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
  Importance: 9/100
• Building and Construction
  Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
  Importance: 8/100
• Telecommunications
  Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
  Importance: 7/100
• Production and Processing
  Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
  Importance: 7/100
• Transportation
  Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
  Importance: 5/100
• Food Production
  Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
  Importance: 2/100
• History and Archeology
  Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
  Importance: 2/100
• Fine Arts
  Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
  Importance: 1/100

Physical Abilities for Physical Therapist Assistants

In order of importance

• Oral Expression
  Communicating by speaking.
  Importance: 78/100
• Oral Comprehension
  Listening and understanding what people say.
  Importance: 75/100
• Speech Clarity
  Speaking clearly.
  Importance: 72/100
• Speech Recognition
  Recognizing spoken words.
  Importance: 72/100
• Written Comprehension
  Reading and understanding what is written.
  Importance: 69/100
• Problem Sensitivity
  Noticing when problems happen.
  Importance: 69/100
• Near Vision
  Seeing details up close.
  Importance: 69/100
• Written Expression
  Communicating by writing.
  Importance: 56/100
• Selective Attention
  Paying attention to something without being distracted.
  Importance: 56/100
• Deductive Reasoning
  Using rules to solve problems.
  Importance: 56/100
• Inductive Reasoning
  Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
  Importance: 56/100
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  Keeping your arm or hand steady.
  Importance: 53/100
• Static Strength
  Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
  Importance: 53/100
• Information Ordering
  Ordering or arranging things.
  Importance: 53/100
• Category Flexibility
  Grouping things in different ways.
  Importance: 50/100
• Finger Dexterity
  Putting together small parts with your fingers.
  Importance: 50/100
• Perceptual Speed
  Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
  Importance: 50/100
• Manual Dexterity
  Holding or moving items with your hands.
  Importance: 50/100
• Far Vision
  Seeing details that are far away.
  Importance: 50/100
• Visualization
  Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
  Importance: 50/100
• Multilimb Coordination
  Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
  Importance: 50/100
• Fluency of Ideas
  Coming up with lots of ideas.
  Importance: 50/100
• Trunk Strength
  Using your lower back and stomach.
  Importance: 50/100
• Time Sharing
  Doing two or more things at the same time.
  Importance: 47/100
• Extent Flexibility
  Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  Importance: 47/100
• Originality
  Creating new and original ideas.
  Importance: 44/100
• Flexibility of Closure
  Seeing hidden patterns.
  Importance: 44/100
• Speed of Closure
  Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
  Importance: 38/100
• Stamina
  Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
  Importance: 38/100
• Auditory Attention
  Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
  Importance: 35/100
• Gross Body Coordination
  Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
  Importance: 35/100
• Control Precision
  Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
  Importance: 35/100
• Dynamic Strength
  Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
  Importance: 31/100
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
  Importance: 28/100
• Visual Color Discrimination
  Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
  Importance: 28/100
• Hearing Sensitivity
  Telling the difference between sounds.
  Importance: 28/100
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  Keeping your balance or staying upright.
  Importance: 28/100
• Memorization
  Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
  Importance: 28/100
• Mathematical Reasoning
  Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
  Importance: 25/100
• Reaction Time
  Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
  Importance: 25/100
• Depth Perception
  Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
  Importance: 25/100
• Rate Control
  Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
  Importance: 25/100
• Number Facility
  Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
  Importance: 25/100
• Response Orientation
  Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
  Importance: 19/100
• Speed of Limb Movement
  Quickly moving your arms and legs.
  Importance: 19/100
• Explosive Strength
  Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
  Importance: 16/100

Tools and Technology used by Physical Therapist Assistants

• Arm orthopedic softgoods
• Back or lumbar or sacral orthopedic softgoods
• Balance beams or boards or bolsters or rockers for rehabilitation or therapy
• Blood pressure cuff kits
• Canes
• Cardiac output CO monitoring units
• Chest percussors
• Continuous passive motion CPM devices
• Crutches
• Desktop computers
• Diathermy units
• Digital camcorders or video cameras
• Digital cameras
• Dynamometers
• Electric vibrators for rehabilitation or therapy
• Electromyography EMG units
• Electrotherapy combination units
• Ergometer
• Exercise trampolines
• Full body immersion hydrotherapy baths or tanks
• Gait belts for rehabilitation or therapy
• Galvanic or faradic stimulators
• Goggles
• Goniometers or arthrometers
• Head or neck traction supplies
• Hydrotherapy bath or tank accessories
• Knee therapeutic brace or support
• Lower body resistance machines
• Lower extremity prosthetic devices
• Mats or platforms for rehabilitation or therapy
• Medical acoustic stethoscopes
• Medical nasal cannulas
• Medical staff isolation or cover gowns
• Mobile medical services automated external defibrillators AED or hard paddles
• Neuromuscular stimulators or kits
• Notebook computers
• Orthopedic splint systems
• Orthotics or foot care products
• Oxygen therapy delivery system products
• Parallel bars for rehabilitation or therapy
• Patient care beds for specialty care
• Patient height rulers
• Patient lifts
• Patient shifting boards
• Patient stretchers
• Pedal exercisers for rehabilitation or therapy
• Pelvis or back traction supplies
• Personal computers
• Physiological recorders
• Plumb bobs
• Positioning devices
• Powder boards for rehabilitation or therapy
• Protective gloves
• Pulse oximeter units
• Reachers for the physically challenged
• Reflex hammers or mallets
• Resistive exercise bands or putty or tubing for rehabilitation or therapy
• Skinfold calipers
• Surgical isolation or surgical masks
• Tablet computers
• Therapeutic balls
• Therapeutic heating or cooling pads or compresses or packs
• Therapeutic paraffin baths
• Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation units
• Treadmill exercisers for rehabilitation or therapy
• Ultrasonic therapy apparatus or supplies
• Ultraviolet UV lamps
• Upper body resistance machines
• Upper extremity prosthetic devices
• Vascular sequential compression devices or tubing
• Walkers or rollators
• Weights or sets for rehabilitation or therapy
• Wheelchairs
• Wrist exercisers for rehabilitation or therapy
• Accounting software
  • Accounting software
  • Billing software
  • Bookkeeping software
• Action games
  • Video game software
  • Virtual reality game software
• Calendar and scheduling software
  • Scheduling software
  • SpectraSoft AppointmentsPRO
• Data base user interface and query software
  • FileMaker Pro
  • Microsoft Access
  • dBASE
• Electronic mail software
  • Email software
  • Microsoft Outlook
• Medical software
  • Arena Health Systems Phys-X
  • Beaver Creek Software The THERAPIST
  • BioEx Systems Exercise Pro
  • Client caseload management software
  • Eazy Application Systems QuickEMR
  • Knees Software PT DocTools
  • Laboratory information system LIS
  • Medical condition coding software
  • PhysioTools Tools RG
  • Rehab Documentation Company ReDoc Suite
  • SpectraSoft DocuPRO
  • Summit Software CarePoint
  • TherAssist
  • eClinicalWorks EHR software
• Office suite software
  • Microsoft Office software
• Operating system software
  • Microsoft Windows
• Presentation software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
• Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software
  • Microsoft Word
  • Word processing software

Employment Industries for Physical Therapist Assistants

• Offices of physical, occupational and speech therapists, and audiologists
  49,200 employed
• General medical and surgical hospitals; private
  15,400 employed
• Home healthcare services
  12,100 employed
• Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities)
  9,400 employed
• Offices of physicians
  5,900 employed
• Specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals; private
  4,000 employed
• General medical and surgical hospitals; local
  3,000 employed