What does a registered physical therapist do?
A registered physical therapist restores a patient's function, alleviates pain, and prevents disabilities by planning and administering medically prescribed physical therapy. Their main job is to diagnose and treat patients who have health conditions that limit their ability to move and perform everyday activities. Their responsibilities include consulting with patients to learn and understand their physical conditions and administering massages to help in the healing process.
Registered physical therapist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real registered physical therapist resumes:
- Manage rehabilitation department and coordinate the rehabilitation program to the facility.
- Excel in ability to customize/adapt conventional physical therapy techniques to meet the specific needs of patients.
- Place orders for appropriate assistive devices, orthotics and prosthetics as per patient need.
- Administer rehabilitation therapies, which improve patient's mobility and movement.
- Operate and supervise oscillating traction for patients depending on insurance qualification.
- Evaluate patients and work closely with other clinicians for determining need for and obtaining specialize equipment and/or orthotic devices.
- Evaluate a variety of injuries and post-operative conditions including ACLR, RTCR, TKR, etc.
Registered physical therapist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 47% of Registered Physical Therapists are proficient in Patients, Respiratory Care, and Healthcare. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Detail oriented, and Dexterity.
We break down the percentage of Registered Physical Therapists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 47%
Excelled in ability to customize/adapt conventional physical therapy techniques to meet the specific needs of patients.
- Respiratory Care, 12%
Evaluate, assess, and document the respiratory care as provided.
- Healthcare, 8%
Coordinate a plan of care with the Healthcare Providers and Physicians.
- PTA, 7%
Supervised physical therapist assistants and mentored PTA students.
- Rehabilitation, 6%
Assisted Director of Rehabilitation in managing and supervising the rehabilitation department and effectively manage staff, customers, and referral sources.
- Home Health, 6%
Ensured charting accuracy through precise documentation in a home health setting.
Common skills that a registered physical therapist uses to do their job include "patients," "respiratory care," and "healthcare." You can find details on the most important registered physical therapist responsibilities below.
Compassion. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a registered physical therapist to have is compassion. Their role and responsibilities require that "physical therapists spend a lot of time interacting with patients, so they should have a desire to help people." Registered physical therapists often use compassion in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "earned repeated praises from supervisor and patients for providing high-quality, compassionate care. "
Detail oriented. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling registered physical therapist duties is detail oriented. The role rewards competence in this skill because "like other healthcare providers, physical therapists should have strong analytic and observational skills to diagnose a patient’s problem, evaluate treatments, and provide safe, effective care." According to a registered physical therapist resume, here's how registered physical therapists can utilize detail oriented in their job responsibilities: "prepared presentations detailing the company's physical therapy services maintained accurate and timely documentation. "
Dexterity. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of registered physical therapists is dexterity. This skill is critical to many everyday registered physical therapist duties, as "physical therapists must use their hands to provide manual therapy and therapeutic exercises." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "educated patients on proper lifting techniques, injury prevention, and pain management. "
Physical stamina. Another common skill required for registered physical therapist responsibilities is "physical stamina." This skill comes up in the duties of registered physical therapists all the time, as "physical therapists spend much of their time on their feet, moving to demonstrate proper techniques and to help patients perform exercises." An excerpt from a real registered physical therapist resume shows how this skill is central to what a registered physical therapist does: "home health rehab with physical therapy specialization in sub-acute orthopedic services"
The three companies that hire the most registered physical therapists are:
- Life Care Solutions92 registered physical therapists jobs
- Life Care Centers of America86 registered physical therapists jobs
- Cooper University Health Care6 registered physical therapists jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable registered physical therapist resume templates
Build a professional registered physical therapist resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your registered physical therapist resume.
Compare different registered physical therapists
Registered physical therapist vs. Manipulative therapy specialist
A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a registered physical therapist are more likely to require skills like "respiratory care," "respiratory therapy," "healthcare," and "pta." On the other hand, a job as a manipulative therapy specialist requires skills like "gmp," "patient care," "t-cell," and "cell processing." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Manipulative therapy specialists tend to make the most money working in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $51,149. In contrast, registered physical therapists make the biggest average salary, $74,260, in the health care industry.On average, manipulative therapy specialists reach lower levels of education than registered physical therapists. Manipulative therapy specialists are 7.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 4.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Registered physical therapist vs. Therapist
An in-home therapist provides case management, counseling, resource system development, support system development, and crisis intervention services for family members and children. They provide goal-oriented and structured therapy on referral issues for families that help recover from neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, or physical abuse. Also, they provide time-limited, goal-oriented, and structured therapy in the families' natural environment for families that need help to recover from neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and physical abuse.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that registered physical therapist responsibilities requires skills like "respiratory care," "respiratory therapy," "healthcare," and "pta." But a therapist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "social work," "group therapy sessions," "crisis intervention," and "mental health."
Therapists earn a lower average salary than registered physical therapists. But therapists earn the highest pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $55,972. Additionally, registered physical therapists earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $74,260 annually.therapists earn higher levels of education than registered physical therapists in general. They're 22.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 4.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for registered physical therapists in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Todd Roach D.C.
Assistant Professor of Biology, Aurora University
Registered physical therapist vs. In home therapist
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, registered physical therapists are more likely to have skills like "respiratory care," "respiratory therapy," "healthcare," and "pta." But a in home therapist is more likely to have skills like "social work," "community resources," "community agencies," and "substance abuse."
In home therapists earn the highest salary when working in the government industry, where they receive an average salary of $52,546. Comparatively, registered physical therapists have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $74,260.in home therapists typically earn higher educational levels compared to registered physical therapists. Specifically, they're 22.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 6.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Registered physical therapist vs. Out-patient therapist
Types of registered physical therapist
Updated January 8, 2025
