Therapist vs outpatient physical therapist

The differences between therapists and outpatient physical therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an outpatient physical therapist has an average salary of $66,359, which is higher than the $55,943 average annual salary of a therapist.

The top three skills for a therapist include social work, patients and group therapy sessions. The most important skills for an outpatient physical therapist are patients, physical therapy, and rehabilitation.

Therapist vs outpatient physical therapist overview

	Therapist	Outpatient Physical Therapist
Yearly salary	$55,943	$66,359
Hourly rate	$26.90	$31.90
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	159,770	119,973
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Master's Degree, 49%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	-	-

What does a therapist do?

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.

What does an outpatient physical therapist do?

An outpatient physical therapist specializes in diagnosing and treating a patient's movement dysfunction often caused by an illness or injury. Their responsibilities revolve around studying a patient's medical history, performing initial assessments, crafting a specific care and treatment plan, and discussing the extent of treatments with patients and their families. An outpatient physical therapist may also provide advice to families or guardians on how to assist and care for patients at home, prescribe medication, and perform follow-up consultations.

Therapist vs outpatient physical therapist salary

Therapists and outpatient physical therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Therapist	Outpatient Physical Therapist
Average salary	$55,943	$66,359
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $80,000	Between $40,000 And $108,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Childhelp	Accountable Healthcare Holdings Corp.
Best paying industry	Government	Non Profits

Differences between therapist and outpatient physical therapist education

There are a few differences between a therapist and an outpatient physical therapist in terms of educational background:

	Therapist	Outpatient Physical Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Master's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Psychology	Social Work
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	Boston University

Therapist vs outpatient physical therapist demographics

Here are the differences between therapists' and outpatient physical therapists' demographics:

	Therapist	Outpatient Physical Therapist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between therapist and outpatient physical therapist duties and responsibilities

Therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.

Outpatient physical therapist example responsibilities.

Facilitate development of coping techniques to manage psychiatric symptoms effectively; educate patients on importance of medication management and compliance.
Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Perform assessments with clients to determine diagnosis and need of services.
Complete intake assessment and formulate diagnosis.
Assist veterans with transportation to interviews.
Provide active case management service for veterans in residential treatment.

Therapist vs outpatient physical therapist skills

Common therapist skills

Social Work, 23%
Patients, 12%
Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
Crisis Intervention, 7%
Mental Health, 4%
Patient Care, 3%

Common outpatient physical therapist skills

Patients, 23%
Physical Therapy, 17%
Rehabilitation, 11%
Patient Care, 10%
Therapy Services, 5%
Social Work, 5%

Therapist vs. similar jobs

Therapist related careers

Therapist related jobs

Therapist jobs by location

Zippia Careers
Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Therapist
Therapist vs Outpatient Physical Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse healthcare practitioner and technical jobs