PHYSICAL THERAPY PROFESSION

Physical Therapy Profession

Physical Therapy Profession

This paper is based on the topic of physical therapy. This paper has two parts. In Part A, the history of physical therapy profession is discussed. In the second part, a personal account of experience as a physical therapy assistant is included.



Part A: Physical Therapy as a Profession

History

Physical therapy is a health profession serving persons of any age or health status with compromised physical functioning or the desire to improve their current physical functioning. Typical clients are persons with compromised quality of life as a result of impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities caused by disease or injury (Moffat, 2007).

American Physical Therapy Association

A national professional association, APTA's aim is to foster advancements in personal therapy practice, research, and education. Currently 199 institutions offer personal treatment learning programs and 234 organisations offer personal therapist aide learning programs in the United States. These figures will change considerably in the approaching years to encompass 9 evolving PT programs and 43 evolving PTA programs.

Texas Physical Therapy Association

Texas personal Therapy experts (TPTS) is a personally belongs to, multi-site physical treatment practice. Founded in 2004, TPTS hunts for to constantly improve the health of the local groups we assist via a fervent commitment to clinical excellence. Home of the largest number of board certified personal therapists and manual therapy young persons in Texas, TPTS prides itself on assisting our purchasers get better, faster, and more powerful to achieve their greatest value of life (Couzens, 2007).

Licenses for PTAs and PTs in Texas

Physical Therapists (PTs) and Physical Therapist Assistants (PTAs) permitted by the Board are the only people who can provide physical treatment in this state. APTA can supply personal therapy services only under the direction and supervision of a PT. A physical therapy assistant or technician is a individual, not licensed by this Board, who has on-the-job teaching and aids in the provision of personal therapy services only with onsite supervision of a PT or PTA. As of August 31, 2010, there were 11,599 actively licensed PTs and 5,748 actively licensed PTAs in Texas (Campbell, 2008).

Occupation for Physical Therapist

Physical therapists complete an examination of the individual and work with the person to determine goals that are reached primarily through exercise prescription and functional training to improve movement. A key component of patient management is education to promote physical health and to prevent injury and disability caused by abnormal posture and movement. Other problems such as pain may be addressed with treatments, including mobilization of soft tissues and joints, electrotherapy, and other physical agents (Moffat, 2007).

Although the use of exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle is ancient in its origins, modern physical therapy developed in response to the needs of injured soldiers. The first physical therapists in the United States were trained to work with soldiers returning from World War I and were called “reconstruction aides.” Some worked in hospitals close to the battlefields in France to begin early rehabilitation of wounded ...