How much money do physical therapists make in a year?

My girlfriend is doing....

4 Years Undergrad for athletic training

3 years grad school for PT

She already works for a PT place as an assistant for chump change, but out of grad school they promised her a job for 70k right away as a head PT.

They normally start out at 50k and the highest one at her place is 110k.

...Don't quote me on this I tend to doze off when she talks

Location and type of practice have a strong bearing on how much you will make. If you live in the west, those who work in SNF's tend to make more the acute care settings.

We're currently paying per diem PT's/OT's 45 to 52 dollars an hour. Full time with benefits 36 to 45 dollars and hour. These are with SNF's in NV and CA.

I don't currently have any contracts with any hospitals or out patient clinics so I couldn't tell you what the current rates are. In the past, we paid 10-15 per cent lower for these positions.

The one I am married to makes a little over 60K a year doing Home Health and seeing about 18 to 22 patients a week (a little less than an hour per patient on average) plus paperwork. So, total, she is putting in about 25 hours per week. She did 4 years for a BS. Now an MS is required and is moving to DPT in the future. Great job for a mom, good money, little responsibility. I went to more school, work 60 hours in the office, and work at home nights and weekends on top of the 60 hours, and still only make 20 or 25K more than her. She's definitely got me beat.

A Doctorate is pretty much standard now and/or will be in the next 5 years. There are a few schools still offering a Masters, but a DPT is now the expectation. The DPT program is 3-4 years depending on your school and it's curriculum.

It's pretty standard to have graduating PT's making about 60k, but I know two who just graduated and are making 70k + benefits in normal clinics.

PT is no longer something you can just step into (that would be a Physical Therapy Assistant; 40-50k a year). School entrance is becoming more competitive as the legitimacy and efficacy of PT has come to light. It's a good career, but make sure you're ready to commit to good grades in undergrad and 3+ years of grad school.

adsgagsg wrote:

My girlfriend is doing....

4 Years Undergrad for athletic training

3 years grad school for PT

She already works for a PT place as an assistant for chump change, but out of grad school they promised her a job for 70k right away as a head PT.

They normally start out at 50k and the highest one at her place is 110k.

...Don't quote me on this I tend to doze off when she talks

^This is right.

Just like other medical professions, the salary doesn't vary as much as other jobs based on where you live and living expenses. If you live in San Francisco you won't make much more than if you lived in a rural area in the midwest. Insurance pays the same so there's only so much money to go around. If you are interested in making money start a private practice.

traveler wrote:

The one I am married to makes a little over 60K a year doing Home Health and seeing about 18 to 22 patients a week (a little less than an hour per patient on average) plus paperwork. So, total, she is putting in about 25 hours per week. She did 4 years for a BS. Now an MS is required and is moving to DPT in the future. Great job for a mom, good money, little responsibility. I went to more school, work 60 hours in the office, and work at home nights and weekends on top of the 60 hours, and still only make 20 or 25K more than her. She's definitely got me beat.

I don't really know much about working in the home health field of PT. I'm guessing she has to travel to the patient's houses and works one on one with them? Does she do this through a company or is she self employed? Also, does the 25hrs/week you quoted her at include the transportation time?

Yes, she has to travel to patient's houses locally. She does it through a clinic associate with a hospital, as a "per visit" employee meaning she gets very limited benefits but makes a high hourly rate and can pretty much dictate when she works and how much (for instance, she works very little during the summer when our kids are out of school and doesn't have to compete with other employees for time off during holidays). The 25 hours per work include about 18 to 22 patients per week (regular visits, evaluations, and discharges), travel time between houses, and paperwork which she tries to do at the patients' houses but usually ends up with a lot she has to do at home as well.

The only thing I don't think is good about her job is the traveling between patient's houses. It's a lot of driving (maybe just a little over 100 miles per week) which increases the risk of accidents, and she uses one of our personal cars so it increases wear and tear. I think they should provide company cars (as a lot of field service engineering companies do) but they have chosen to pay mileage.

^This is right.

Just like other medical professions, the salary doesn't vary as much as other jobs based on where you live and living expenses. If you live in San Francisco you won't make much more than if you lived in a rural area in the midwest. Insurance pays the same so there's only so much money to go around. If you are interested in making money start a private practice.[/quote]

Unless things have changed in the past year or two mmedicare reimbursement is based on rural vs urban areas. Rural areas get reimbursed at a lower rate than urban. Medical insurance providers generally take their cues from medicare and reimburse likewise.