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The differences between rehab aides and staff physical therapy assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a staff physical therapy assistant has an average salary of $51,881, which is higher than the $27,050 average annual salary of a rehab aide.
The top three skills for a rehab aide include patients, rehabilitation and scheduling appointments. The most important skills for a staff physical therapy assistant are patients, rehabilitation, and CPR.
| Rehab Aide | Staff Physical Therapy Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $27,050 | $51,881 |
| Hourly rate | $13.00 | $24.94 |
| Growth rate | 24% | 24% |
| Number of jobs | 41,872 | 127,104 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Associate Degree, 47% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A rehab aide is responsible for supporting the rehabilitation team in performing medical and therapy treatments for patients with disabilities and health conditions. Rehab aides perform administrative and clerical duties as needed, such as updating patients' information on the database, responding to patients' concerns, processing medical payments, administering medications, and assisting rehabilitation staff on medical procedures. They also monitor patients' conditions, create reports, and keep an organized medical chart for reference. A rehab aide should be highly communicative and organizational, especially on attending to each patient's needs under different circumstances with high-quality services.
A staff physical therapy assistant's role is to provide treatments while under the supervision and directives of a physical therapist. Their responsibilities primarily revolve around assisting patients and therapists, documenting all treatment processes, providing care advice to patients and their families, and monitoring a patient's progress, alerting the physician should there be any concerns or unusual behavior. Furthermore, a staff physical therapy assistant may perform clerical duties such as gathering patient information, managing schedules, arranging appointments, answering calls and inquiries, and maintaining records.
Rehab aides and staff physical therapy assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Rehab Aide | Staff Physical Therapy Assistant | |
| Average salary | $27,050 | $51,881 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $34,000 | Between $37,000 And $71,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Santa Rosa, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Alaska |
| Best paying company | - | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a rehab aide and a staff physical therapy assistant in terms of educational background:
| Rehab Aide | Staff Physical Therapy Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Associate Degree, 47% |
| Most common major | Kinesiology | Physical Therapy |
| Most common college | Inter American University of Puerto Rico San German | University of Virginia |
Here are the differences between rehab aides' and staff physical therapy assistants' demographics:
| Rehab Aide | Staff Physical Therapy Assistant | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 28.4% Female, 71.6% | Male, 34.9% Female, 65.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 8.6% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.9% White, 66.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |