Alternative Careers With Physical Therapy Degree
While most physical therapists work in hospitals and other medical settings, there are many alternative careers available to those with a physical therapy degree. In fact, there are several jobs that require this type of education and can be found in the field of sports medicine. Here are some examples:
Personal Trainer: If you enjoy working out and would like to help others improve their fitness levels, then becoming a personal trainer might be right for you. You’ll need to have a degree in physical therapy as well as experience working with patients who have mobility issues or injuries. Once you have these qualifications under your belt, then all that remains is finding an employer who will hire someone with your background!
Physical Therapist Assistant: If you don’t have quite enough experience to become a full-time physical therapist yet but still want to work in this field, then consider becoming a physical therapist assistant instead! This position requires less training than becoming a licensed practitioner does – usually just an associate’s degree or certificate program – but still allows you to use your skills helping others heal faster after an injury or surgery.
Alternative Careers With Physical Therapy Degree
1. Research associate
National average salary: $60,931 per year
Primary duties: A research associate is responsible for performing experiments and monitoring research projects to ensure they stay on time and within budget. A research associate with physical therapy credentials and experience may focus specifically on advancements in the field and evaluate methods of physical therapy and their effectiveness. Research associates also produce reports for managers and other healthcare professionals that show the experiment’s findings.
2. Professor
National average salary: $63,238 per year
Primary duties: A professor instructs students in a classroom setting. They teach a subject through lectures, exams and projects, serve as advisors to promising students, write curriculum and may conduct research and publish reports. Professors of physical therapy may teach in the classroom and have a lab component to their courses where students can gain more hands-on experience in the subject.
3. Program director
National average salary: $64,850 per year
Primary duties: A program director is responsible for conceptualizing, developing and implementing programs within an organization. They hire staff to support the program, set program goals, develop initiatives to train others and share details about the program with staff, manage budgets and schedules and perform regular audits on a program’s compliance and effectiveness. Program directors also consult with management, executive leaders and employees to discover program needs.
Read more: Learn About Being a Program Director
4. Marketing manager
National average salary: $67,808 per year
Primary duties: A marketing manager develops communication strategies between a company and its target audience. They create advertising campaigns, promotional materials and marketing plans, oversee a team of creatives, produce reports on the team’s efforts and connect with the local media to promote their client. Physical therapists who venture into marketing may work for healthcare facilities, physical therapy centers or something similar.
Read more: Learn About Being a Marketing Manager
5. Consultant
National average salary: $72,561 per year
Primary duties: A physical therapist consultant is responsible for educating healthcare professionals, including new physical therapists, on emerging trends and news in the field and developing rehabilitation programs for their facility. They create educational materials, organize trainings, shadow physical therapists and may conduct community educational sessions so the public can understand more about the field of physical therapy.
Read more: Learn About Being a Consultant
6. Medical device sales representative
National average salary: $82,635 per year
Primary duties: A medical device sales representative pitches and sells their products to healthcare professionals. They create presentations, manage a sales territory, produce device brochures, answer questions about the medical devices they’re selling and educate medical professionals on the usage and benefits of purchasing the medical device or equipment for their facility. Medical device sales representatives also manage their leads, build relationships with healthcare professionals and produce reports for management to display their sales numbers.
Read more: Learn About Being a Sales Representative
7. Wellness manager
National average salary: $92,253 per year
Primary duties: A wellness manager creates wellness programs for an organization, which can include a corporate company or community endeavor. They train senior staff members on the best ways to motivate their team to participate in health and wellness initiatives, negotiate insurance discounts for individuals who meet certain wellness criteria and write company policy to include a focus on health and wellness for all employees. Wellness managers also partner with companies and individuals who provide health and wellness services to offer discounts and perks to staff members.
8. Recruiter
National average salary: $97,315 per year
Primary duties: A recruiter is responsible for matching talented and qualified candidates with companies who are hiring for certain positions. Recruiters who specialize in placing individuals in healthcare roles meet with employers to understand their needs, review resumes from candidates, conduct initial interviews and answer questions from candidates about the new hire process, orientation, onboarding and training.
Read more: Learn About Being a Recruiter
9. Director of rehabilitation
National average salary: $106,985 per year
Primary duties: A director of rehabilitation manages a team of therapists, including physical, occupational and speech therapists, to make sure the client is receiving the level of care they expect. They ensure their team performs proper evaluation and treatment, train staff members, conduct annual reviews, manage a budget and coordinate license renewals. A director of rehabilitation also creates policies, programs and procedures for their department.
10. Medical writer
National average salary: $115,948 per year
Primary duties: A medical writer is responsible for conducting research and writing medical documents to educate other members of the healthcare community or the general public. They may write journals, papers, website content, magazine articles and more across a wide variety of topics, although a physical therapist may write specifically about advancements in the field of physical therapy or related disciplines.
