What is a Student Physical Therapist?

Student physical therapists help patients with injuries and chronic health conditions recover from injuries, manage their pain, and increase their quality of life. To do this, you will educate patients about keeping fit and preventing advanced injuries. Your job responsibilities include advising patients to learn about their physical condition and symptoms, assisting patients with the use of equipment such as wheelchairs, and reviewing and maintaining patient records, and keeping track of their progress. You will be required to help the patients ease their pains using exercises, stretching, hands-on therapy, and equipment. Also, you are to outline goals for patients and expected results.

A bachelor's degree in science-related is required for this job. As a student physical therapist, you must have compassion, be resourceful, and possess interpersonal communication skills. You should also be able to pay rapt attention to details and manage time. Your salary will be an average of $86,026 at the end of the year.

What Does a Student Physical Therapist Do

There are certain skills that many student physical therapists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed detail oriented, dexterity and physical stamina.

How To Become a Student Physical Therapist

If you're interested in becoming a student physical therapist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 76.5% of student physical therapists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.3% of student physical therapists have master's degrees. Even though most student physical therapists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Top Student Physical Therapist Jobs Near You

Student Physical Therapist Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of physical therapist you might progress to a role such as outpatient physical therapist eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title director of case management.

Student Physical Therapist

Average Salary for a Student Physical Therapist

Student Physical Therapists in America make an average salary of $73,003 per year or $35 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $97,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $54,000 per year.
Average Student Physical Therapist Salary
$73,003 Yearly
$35.10 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Student Physical Therapist

There are several types of student physical therapist, including:

Therapist

Role:

A therapist is the keeper of secrets. Neither therapist nor client is likely to advertise what is going on during sessions. You might have pinned down therapists as doctors of psychology who try to help the weak and crazy among us.

Well, the truth is contrary: it is a humble and courageous gesture to seek the help of a professional, not only in moments of crisis, trying to deal with harmful mental patterns or toxic core beliefs, which cause suffering to the patient and his/her or her environment alike, but also on a preventive basis.

So, just as much as it is the job of therapists to diagnose mental health problems and propose and conduct treatments, it is also their responsibility to make sure a diagnosis will never be necessary.

  • Average Salary: $55,943
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Physical Therapist

Role:

Being active is the name of the game. At least for Physical Therapists. Since most of their day is spent with helping patients improve movement and manage pain, Physical Therapists spend a lot of their time on their feet.

Typically, you can find them working in private offices and clinics, but some work in hospitals, patients' homes and even nursing homes. If you're excited about helping people get their pain under control, then all you need is a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree and a license to practice.

  • Average Salary: $73,070
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Occupational Therapist

Role:

Generally, an occupational therapist prepares rehabilitative programs for disabled individuals to restore the essential functions needed daily. They use various treatment methods to help patients with physical, mental, emotional, or developmental disabilities.

In this field, you may work with individuals suffering from short-term and long-term impairments to improve conditions to advance their quality of life. This may include helping an individual with everyday life and occupation tasks. As a part of your work, you will combine aspects from various disciplines, including medicine, psychology, and sociology, to evaluate and implement comprehensive plans for patients.

If these professionals' education level is Bachelor's Degree, their average salary would be around $88,300 per year. At the same time, if you possess a Master's Degree, you can make a whopping salary of $1,39,000 annually.

  • Average Salary: $75,707
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Student Physical Therapist Jobs

Number Of Student Physical Therapist Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California4,395$105,506
2Texas2,983$72,825
3Illinois1,918$75,318
4New York1,902$74,518
5Pennsylvania1,641$71,432
6Georgia1,596$70,423
7Florida1,559$67,428
8Ohio1,480$69,305
9North Carolina1,364$71,116
10New Jersey1,269$79,043
11Indiana1,248$71,085
12Virginia1,240$75,856
13Massachusetts1,193$80,057
14Washington1,157$88,738
15Missouri1,076$68,507
16Michigan1,066$71,763
17Maryland948$76,889
18Colorado906$72,912
19Tennessee837$68,808
20Wisconsin749$71,945
21South Carolina721$71,802
22Arizona705$76,509
23Minnesota685$77,823
24Iowa656$67,794
25Alabama646$73,603
26Oregon578$79,167
27Kentucky561$70,137
28Kansas558$70,086
29Oklahoma470$72,053
30Nebraska442$74,058
31Louisiana437$73,733
32Connecticut413$77,193
33Arkansas406$64,350
34New Hampshire391$76,572
35New Mexico305$74,130
36Nevada302$84,855
37Utah292$69,885
38West Virginia287$68,103
39Mississippi271$75,316
40Idaho238$75,013
41Maine219$70,339
42Delaware215$77,118
43Rhode Island213$77,214
44North Dakota208$70,518
45Montana206$69,326
46Vermont178$65,582
47South Dakota170$66,353
48Wyoming117$76,422
49Alaska116$95,607
50Hawaii116$82,799

Student Physical Therapist Education

Student Physical Therapist Majors

Kinesiology
30.5 %
Physical Therapy
23.6 %
Biology
10.8 %

Student Physical Therapist Degrees

Bachelors

76.5 %

Doctorate

10.2 %

Associate

8.8 %

Top Colleges for Student Physical Therapists

1. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

2. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

3. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

4. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

5. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

6. Tufts University

Medford, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,382

Enrollment

5,597

7. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,381

Enrollment

34,564

8. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,399

Enrollment

7,356

9. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

10. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

Top Skills For a Student Physical Therapist

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 30.7% of student physical therapists listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and dexterity are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Student Physical Therapist Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Student Physical Therapist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Student Physical Therapist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Student Physical Therapist diversity

Student Physical Therapist Gender Distribution

Female
Female
63%
Male
Male
37%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among student physical therapists, 62.6% of them are women, while 37.4% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among student physical therapists is White, which makes up 72.0% of all student physical therapists.

  • The most common foreign language among student physical therapists is Spanish at 52.1%.

Online Courses For Student Physical Therapist That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Managing Your Health: The Role of Physical Therapy and Exercise

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Managing Your Health: The Role of Physical Therapy and Exercise will introduce learners to the concepts and benefits of physical therapy and exercise. Over six weeks learners will explore: Why physical activity and exercise are important, Exercise and Cardiovascular Disease, Exercise and Osteoporosis, Exercise and Cancer, Common Sports Injuries, Exercise and Arthritis...

2. Occupational Therapy Introduction - ACCREDITED CERTIFICATE

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4.6
(476)

How to become occupational therapist, basic Psychology, Physiology & Anatomy, working with disabilities, children adults...

3. Internationally Accredited Certificate in Art Therapy

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4.3
(451)

Become Professional Art Therapist with this Therapeutic Art Therapy Course / Masterclass for Healing and Life Coaching...

Show More Online Courses For Student Physical Therapist
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Top Student Physical Therapist Employers

Most Common Employers For Student Physical Therapist

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Mayo Clinic$89,025$42.8014
2Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation$85,481$41.1034
3Concentra$83,072$39.9484
4Athletico$82,916$39.8618
5University Hospitals$82,188$39.5114
6Professional Physical Therapy$80,921$38.9037
7Kaiser Permanente$79,869$38.4023
8Cleveland Clinic$78,494$37.7419
9St. Luke's Hospital$77,763$37.3920
10UPMC$77,706$37.3648
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Student Physical Therapist Related Careers

Student Physical Therapist Related Jobs

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Updated April 6, 2023