Occupation Profile

Physical Therapists

(SOC Code : 29-1123)

in California

Assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and decrease or prevent deformity of patients suffering from disease or injury.

Employers are usually looking for candidates with a Master's degree .

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Occupational Wages

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Area	Year	Period	Hourly Mean	Hourly by Percentile
				25th	Median	75th
California	2012	1st Qtr	$42.31	$36.52	$41.92	$47.39

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Occupational Projections of Employment (also called "Outlook" or "Demand")

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Area	Estimated Year-Projected Year	Employment		Employment Change		Annual Avg Openings
		Estimated	Projected	Number	Percent
California	2010 - 2020	16,500	20,400	3,900	23.6	580

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Job Openings from JobCentral National Labor Exchange

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Enter a Zip Code Find a Zip code in California

Within miles of Zip Code.

Possible Licenses Required and Issuing Authority

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License Title

License Authority

Physical Therapist

Department of Consumer Affairs
Physical Therapy Board of California
Applications and Licensing Services Unit
www.ptbc.ca.gov

Kinesiological Electromyography (KEMG) Certificate

Department of Consumer Affairs
Physical Therapy Board of California
Applications and Licensing Services Unit
www.ptbc.ca.gov

Electroneuromyography (ENMG) Certificate

Department of Consumer Affairs
Physical Therapy Board of California
Applications and Licensing Services Unit
www.ptbc.ca.gov

About Licenses

Industries Employing This Occupation (click on Industry Title to View Employers List)

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Industry Title

Number of Employers in State of California

Percent of Total
Employment for Occupation in State of California

Offices of Other Health Practitioners

38,883

37.7%

General Medical and Surgical Hospitals

1,393

27.6%

Home Health Care Services

3,702

6.9%

Offices of Physicians

62,928

4.2%

Nursing Care Facilities

2,386

2.8%

Psychiatric & Substance Abuse Hospitals

1,228

2.5%

Employment Services

6,297

2.2%

Other Hospitals

120

1.3%

Elementary and Secondary Schools

17,985

1.0%

About Staffing Patterns

Training Programs (click on title for more information)

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Program Title

Kinesiotherapy/Kinesiotherapist

Physical Therapy/Therapist

About Training & Apprenticeships

About This Occupation (from O*NET - The Occupation Information Network)

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Top Tasks (Specific duties and responsibilities of this job.)

Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention.

Plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients.

Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient`s chart or enter information into computer.

Identify and document goals, anticipated progress, and plans for reevaluation.

Administer manual exercises, massage, or traction to help relieve pain, increase patient strength, or decrease or prevent deformity or crippling.

Evaluate effects of treatment at various stages and adjust treatments to achieve maximum benefit.

Test and measure patient`s strength, motor development and function, sensory perception, functional capacity, or respiratory or circulatory efficiency and record data.

Instruct patient and family in treatment procedures to be continued at home.

Review physician`s referral and patient`s medical records to help determine diagnosis and physical therapy treatment required.

Confer with the patient, medical practitioners, or appropriate others to plan, implement, or assess the intervention program.

More Tasks for Physical Therapists

Top Skills used in this Job

Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others` reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Time Management - Managing one`s own time and the time of others.

Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others` actions.

Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.

More Skills for Physical Therapists

Top Abilities (Attributes of the person that influence performance in this job.)

Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

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Top Work Values (Aspects of this job that create satisfaction.)

Relationships - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Achievement - Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

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Top Interests (The types of activities someone in this job would like.)

Social - Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Investigative - Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

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Alternate Titles

Licensed Physical Therapy Assistants; Pediatric Physical Therapists; Pulmonary Physical Therapists; Sports Physical Therapists; and Physiotherapists.