Careers: PTA / OTA

Any physical therapy / occupational therapy assistants out there? How do you like your career? Anything you wish you’d done differently starting out?

Background:

I turned 33 yesterday. For the past five years I’ve been pseudo-dirtbagging, working directionless odd jobs as little as possible and climbing as much as possible. It’s been fun, but for several reasons — impending senescence? — I feel it’s now time to go back to school and embark upon a second career. (Previously, I taught elementary school and guided).

Apparent pro’s of becoming a PTA / OTA:
- Interesting subject matter
- Satisfaction of helping people
- Decent pay
- Travel gigs
- Possible advancement to full PT / OT
- Relatively small investment in education (~18 months)
- Possibility of working part-time and PRN (I have a very low-overhead life).
- Job security thanks to aging boomer population

Cons:
- Yer gunna die
- The only Colorado programs are in the Front Range.

Thanks for whatever sagacity you choose to bestow upon this thread, and may the divine sending gote bleat benevolently upon your future vertical aspirations.

I've never been either of those, but I've spent an embarrassing amount of time under direction of PTAs. They seemed to like what they do, but clearly you'd want to be in a good practice (high morale, respectful, successful etc).

Fritz,

Being in home health I interact with a fair amount of PTAs, OTAs.  They seem to really like what they do and like me (an RN), get a lot of job satisfaction.  Certainly you seem very personable and that's a big part of being good at it imo.  I'm not familiar with other vectors of health care related to your question, but the therapy assistants get plenty of respect and are definitely a valued member of the team.  I'd say go for it and if you like it then continue on to be a PT/OT.  My .02. 

One of my kids took the PTA path.  The money on the PTA path makes waaaay more sense than full PT because there's a lot less investment up front and the paycheck spread is not different enough to make up for it over a lifetime of practice, especially with time value of money at stake.  PTA responsibility depends on how saturated the PT market is.  In a place like Florida, PTAs have a ton more responsibility (and runway to learn) because the PTs are so stretched.  In a PT-saturated market like the Front Range, PTAs have a lot less responsibility.  Getting into PTA school can be competitive.  Consider a place like Keiser University in Sarasota (yeah, you'll climb plastic for awhile)-- if you meet their prerequisites, they put you on the wait list and you enter the program first-come/first-served, and there's a bit of a hell month at the front end to weed out those who can't hack it.  But I think it beats doing the competitive entry thing, finding out you didn't get accepted, and then having to re-enter the application process.  Keiser has a "bridge" program as well, in case you find yourself want to go full PT at some point.  Instruction there was solid, and our child went right from there into a job.

Fritz, I believe that there is a PTA program in Farmington, NM. Pretty much the western slope & not the front range. :-) 

Hey Fritz,

I'm not an OTA but I'm a final year OT student. I graduate in May. I'd recommend really looking in to the differences between OTA and PTA. They are really pretty different fields. Maybe think about what populations you would like to work with. In my experience, there are more PTA's hired at general outpatient clinics than OTA's. Instead of looking for the "best" OTA/PTA program, I would recommend finding a program that is more cost effective to reduce loans. All employers want to see is if you passed your boards at the end of your program. There are some things in play right now about reimbursement rates being decreased for OTAs/PTAs but nothing has been finalized. So, a facility would get reimbursed less if a PTA/OTA treats a patient than if a OT/PT would treat the patient. Again, this is not currently the case but if it became law it would drastically change the availability of jobs for OTA/PTAs because companies would hire less of them. So, I'd recommend researching that. I do think either OTA/PTA would be a rewarding field though. I chose OT because it was in the middle of everything I wanted; good work/life balance, decent pay, easy to find a job if I'm not picky, get to feel good about what I do for a living, etc. Here is a link to a site that has an OT practice framework for free that you can read; It will be helpful in learning more about the field. terapia-ocupacional.org.ar/…

I was 29 when I graduated from Physical Therapy school in 2000. There is nothing like the joy of caring for patients but as you know from teaching, every job has it's life cycle. Physical medicine and rehab has enough diversity that you can change emphasis several times in your career and still have enough intellectual stimulation to keep you going. But 20 years happens faster than you'd think.

There are issues to consider:

Student loan debt:
I got my MPT in 2000, with $96,000 in student loan debt. PT's now are averaging anywhere from 150-250k in loan debt. Same for OT's. Starting salaries are around $75k. Ownership and management career paths can dramatically change that but you need capital, drive and business savvy.

PTA and OTA school is far less expensive, depending on the school you choose. I'm not sure of the numbers but imagine the debt is below $50k for most. Starting salaries are in the 40-60k? range, depending on the treatment venue.

If you already have an undergraduate degree, think hard about going back and getting a masters in accounting, finance or business.

Business operation vs patient care:
If you think patient care will keep you content with punching the clock in one of those settings, you'll be fine. Anyone with a PTA or OTA degree and a bit of ambition quickly realizes that you can only go so far working in a clinic or rehab facility with a non-terminal degree. I was a guide too and most guides I know have a strong sense of self direction, with low tolerance for inept action. That means you're likely a candidate for management one day. If so, you might think about combining a PTA or OTA degree + an MBA or some kind of masters in public policy.

Think hard about going back and getting a masters in accounting, finance or business.

Hope this helps.

So yeah, former teacher, full time dirt bag, I waited until 34 to make steps towards figuring out what to do with my life.

I went to nursing school. With a prior 4 year degree, I was eligible for an accelerated program for BSN. Since you're a former teacher, you are too. There are probably a few prerequisites to take care of.

35k debt and only that high because I barely worked during school. 3 years later, it's almost half paid off. I own a home. I've gotten $9/hr worth of raises in that time. 4 days off a week and if I take my 3 days off, it's a 10 day break.

I could double my paycheck next week by switching to travel nursing. I have a wife, two babies, and a wild dog, so I'm getting some things in order before doing that.

You might really look closely at what you want from life. Stability, portability, flexibility. I wish I'd done this 15 years earlier.

Thanks for the stellar, helpful forum responses and PM’s from everyone so far. 

highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion wrote: So yeah, former teacher, full time dirt bag, I waited until 34 to make steps towards figuring out what to do with my life.

I went to nursing school. With a prior 4 year degree, I was eligible for an accelerated program for BSN. Since you're a former teacher, you are too. There are probably a few prerequisites to take care of.

35k debt and only that high because I barely worked during school. 3 years later, it's almost half paid off. I own a home. I've gotten $9/hr worth of raises in that time. 4 days off a week and if I take my 3 days off, it's a 10 day break.

I could double my paycheck next week by switching to travel nursing. I have a wife, two babies, and a wild dog, so I'm getting some things in order before doing that.

You might really look closely at what you want from life. Stability, portability, flexibility. I wish I'd done this 15 years earlier.

+1!!! You really should consider this kind of thinking. Far, far more flexible and much less expensive.

People who have firsthand experience working as either a RN or a PT, which one would you say is more conducive to a "climber's lifestyle?" (Whatever that means...) I'm considering going back to school (accelerated BSN) for both, and I thought it piggybacked onto this thread nicely. To be honest, I find PT more appealing due to the subject material, but a lot of the research I've been doing has brought some doubts into my mind and I was hoping someone on here might have some advice. The main drawbacks I see with being a PT, in no particular order:

-Amount of student debt.
-Less options for career movement. (Anyone want to offer any opinions on this one?)
-Less flexibility in regards to when you work, ability to travel, etc.

It seems to me that an accelerated BSN program would cost less overall than a PT program, and working as a nurse might offer more variety and flexibility than working as a PT. Can anybody weigh in, offer advice, offer contrary opinions, muddy the waters, etc.? Personal experiences, stories, and advice all welcome.

My wife is a pt. Bad things about being a pt: debt, length of schooling relative to pay, the pay (I only have a bachelors but get paid 80% more), erratic scheduling, and the employers.
One thing that is being neglected is who employs pts. Most pt jobs are either outpatient or in a skilled nursing facility. Most of my wife’s past employers care almost nothing about the quality of care and only care about your billable units. On top of this management generally totally unfamiliar with how their employees work. Being a nurse you can avoid these problems a little better.