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What is a director of physical therapy and how to become one
Do you find the idea of helping others heal from physical injury rewarding? Physical therapists help people live healthy and active lives. As a director of physical therapy, you'll help ensure that practice or medical business can more efficiently provide patients with the therapeutic services they need. Your ability to set effective and creative strategic goals while liaising with other medical departments will be key in helping you succeed in this position.
As a director of physical therapy, you'll be responsible for a variety of tasks, such as developing HR and operational strategies for physical therapy, evaluating patient care protocols, and measuring outcomes, along with establishing and maintaining quality assurance programs. You'll also be responsible for overseeing the hiring, training, and development of physical therapy staff. Having a good head for business is key, as you'll need to illustrate sound financial management and planning.
Key skills that are needed to excel in this field are proven financial planning and management along with knowledge of legal, medical, and accreditation compliance. Although not required, a bachelor's degree may be helpful if you're looking to get into this field.
Avg. Salary $107,759
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth rate 17%
Growth rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.47%
Asian 11.25%
Black or African American 3.98%
Hispanic or Latino 7.92%
Unknown 3.80%
White 72.58%
Genderfemale 56.53%
male 43.47%
Age - 40American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 40Stress level is high
7.1 - high
Complexity level is advanced
7 - challenging
Work life balance is good
6.4 - fair
Director of physical therapy career paths
Key steps to become a director of physical therapy
Explore director of physical therapy education requirements
Start to develop specific director of physical therapy skills
Skills Percentages Patients 38.54% Rehabilitation 17.40% Physical Therapy 6.03% Treatment Programs 4.84% Occupational Therapy 4.74% Complete relevant director of physical therapy training and internships
Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New directors of physical therapy learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a director of physical therapy based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real director of physical therapy resumes.Research director of physical therapy duties and responsibilities
- Develop department budgets and manage QA adherence.
- Manage PPS details efficiently to ensure high quality clinical care while maximizing reimbursement for the facility.
- Attend all daily meetings including stand up, IDT, PPS, and direct and lead weekly rehab meetings.
- Develop and improve the documentation system with the use of early EMR documentation software.
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Prepare your director of physical therapy resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your director of physical therapy resume.
You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a director of physical therapy resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
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Build a professional director of physical therapy resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your director of physical therapy resume.
Apply for director of physical therapy jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a director of physical therapy job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
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Average director of physical therapy salary
The average director of physical therapy salary in the United States is $107,759 per year or $52 per hour. Director of physical therapy salaries range between $63,000 and $183,000 per year.
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Updated January 8, 2025
