How To Become A Physical Therapy Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a physical therapy technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Physical Therapy Technician supports the Physical Therapists and Physical Therapy Assistants to plan and implement patient care. Physical therapy technicians provide administrative support and assist with assessing patients. They manage inventory and maintain equipment, and they often help receive incoming patients, record and stock inventory, and schedule appointments and treatments. Technicians are also in charge of cleaning equipment, washing linens, and performing clerical tasks.

Physical therapist skills include both soft and hard skills. This includes the ability to communicate information, listen actively, communicate verbally and in writing, and explain things with ease. Physical therapists must establish and foster relationships with patients as they help patients move through tough exercises. They must also be able to empathize with their patients to know how they are feeling and reacting to treatments. The educational requirement of a physical therapist technician is an associate's or bachelor's degree in physical therapy or kinesiology. Physical therapy technician makes an average salary of $69,890 per year.

ScorePhysical Therapy TechnicianUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $35,161

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 24%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41%

Asian 7.77%

Black or African American 7.12%

Hispanic or Latino 13.25%

Unknown 4.79%

White 66.67%

Gender

female 62.16%

male 37.84%

Age - 37

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 37

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a physical therapy technician

Explore physical therapy technician education requirements

Most common physical therapy technician degrees

Bachelor's

67.5 %

Associate

14.7 %

High School Diploma

7.6 %

Start to develop specific physical therapy technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	42.70%
Patient Care	13.12%
Rehabilitation	7.37%
Customer Service	6.29%
Occupational Therapy	3.20%

Complete relevant physical therapy technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New physical therapy technicians 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 physical therapy technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real physical therapy technician resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed physical therapy technician usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed physical therapy technician in most of states. 40 states require physical therapy technicians to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	-	-	Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant
Arkansas	Specific course required	State exam required	Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA)
California	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Physical Therapist Assistant
Connecticut	Specific course required	Third-party exam required	Physical Therapist Assistant
Delaware	Degree required	State exam required	Physical Therapist Assistant

Research physical therapy technician duties and responsibilities

Manage flexible schedule at various company facilities categorize as ILF, ALF, and SNF.
Assist patients in performing ADL tasks and the use of prescribe adaptive equipment.
Help with ADL's for each patient to make sure they make it to the therapy gym.
Schedule rehab sessions, transport patients to sessions, maintain the cleanliness of treatment area and order supplies.

Prepare your physical therapy technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your physical therapy technician 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 physical therapy technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable physical therapy technician resume templates

Build a professional physical therapy technician 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 physical therapy technician resume.