About the Profession
About the Profession
Physical Therapist Assistant
About the Profession
Difference between PT and PTA.
The PTA degree is NOT and was never designed to be a track to the PT degree. General education course work from the PTA degree will transfer to PT degree, not technical courses.
PT (Physical Therapist)
- entry level doctoral degree (DPT).
- licensure
- evaluation of patient
- assessments of patients
- determine plan of care
- interpretation of evaluation and assessment results
- determine treatment goals
- patient treatment (implement plan of care)
- documentation
- manage multiple patient's care
- patient education
- communication with all other healthcare professionals
- delegate appropriate tasks to PTA, PT, PT technician
- communicate with patients and care givers
PTA (Physical Therapist Assistant)
- associate degree (PT)
- licensure
- patient treatment (implement plan of care)
- documentation
- increasingly dual role with clerical and insurance responsibilities
- communicate with PT and selected other healthcare processionals
- assessments of patients
- patient education
- delegate to PT technician
- communicate with patients and care givers
Professional duties: please see differences between the physical therapist and the physical therapist assistant) plus:
- A decorative image of Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.respectful interaction with patients and other healthcare professionals
- legal and ethical practice per APTA guidelines and state law
- positive representation of the profession of physical therapy
- provide safe, interventions of high quality
| Practice Settings: | hospitals, rehab centers, outpatient clinics, schools, home health agencies, sports medicine clinics, nursing homes, education. |
| Age range of physical therapy patients: | NICU (neonatal intensive care) to over 100 years old. |
| Personal traits: | good communication skills, problem solving abilities, critical thinking, physical stamina, educational background in science, math, english and psychology. |
| Salary: | depends on degree (PT vs PTA), location (metropolitan vs. rural areas) and setting (hospital, outpatient, home health, etc.). |
For Additional Information visit the American Physical Therapy Association web site.
South Carolina PT/PTA programs:
| Doctoral PT: | USC Columbia, SC MUSC Charleston, SC |
| PTA: | Midlands Technical College Columbia, SC Trident Technical College North Charleston, SC Greenville Technical College Greenville, SC
Technical College of the Low Country (2 expansion programs - Florence Darlington Technical College & Aiken Technical College) |