How To Become A Therapeutic Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a therapeutic specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Dawn Hogue

If you like helping people, then the job of a therapeutic specialist might be right for you. The title of therapeutic specialist covers a couple of different fields. You could practice alternative therapeutic medicines such as acupuncture or massage. You could also work as a recreational therapist, helping people recover after injuries or traumatic events.

Sometimes, a therapeutic specialist is a person who works with patients in need of mental health therapy. You would probably work with vulnerable populations, help clients develop treatment plans, and match them with the care they need. No matter what kind of therapy you work with, you would still help people regain control over their lives after trauma or injury.

If you're applying for a job as a therapeutic specialist, you should probably read the job description carefully since this title can cover so many different positions. Sometimes, pharmaceutical companies even hire therapeutic specialists to sell their treatments to clients and match clients with appropriate pharmaceutical therapies. Of course, if you're a sales guru, maybe this is the job for you.

What general advice would you give to a Therapeutic Specialist?

Dawn Hogue

Executive Director, Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation

Massage therapists entering the job market, at this time, will have a unique experience for many reasons. For example, safety and hygiene protocols include the same good hand-washing and use of clean/sanitized linens as always, but now, therapists and clients need to wear face masks or face shields, take temperatures, and consider "tracing" of client contacts. Some massage therapists may not have the ability to perform massage sessions in client's homes and some may need to limit the number of clients allowed in their establishments at one time. Aside from some of these "logistical" changes, overall there is still a great demand for massage therapists. Because people have been isolated and under tremendous stress this year, there remains a large base of potential clients who need the touch, care, and connection that can come from receiving a massage, as well as the reduction of stress and anxiety.

ScoreTherapeutic SpecialistUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $35,912

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.6

Growth Rate 4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 5.20%

Black or African American 3.88%

Hispanic or Latino 14.52%

Unknown 3.72%

White 72.44%

Gender

female 54.65%

male 45.35%

Age - 48

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 - 48

Stress Level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.8

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.6

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a therapeutic specialist

Explore therapeutic specialist education requirements

Most common therapeutic specialist degrees

Bachelor's

77.8 %

Master's

11.9 %

Associate

5.7 %

Start to develop specific therapeutic specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	22.57%
Disease State	14.32%
Healthcare Professionals	11.35%
Business Plan	9.40%
Account Management	7.98%

Complete relevant therapeutic specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New therapeutic specialists 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 therapeutic specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real therapeutic specialist resumes.

Research therapeutic specialist duties and responsibilities

Lead product launch of dermatology sales for Nucort and Halog
Manage educational speaker programs for physicians, nurses and pharmacists, introducing new oncology products.
Develop and maintain repeat clientele in a competitive cardiology sales market.
Value add programs for psychiatry departments within each assign hospital and clinic.

Prepare your therapeutic specialist resume

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

Choose From 10+ Customizable Therapeutic Specialist Resume templates

Build a professional Therapeutic Specialist 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 Therapeutic Specialist resume.