Physical Therapy Assistant

Types of Degrees Physical Therapy Assistant Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many physical therapy assistant graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

What Physical Therapy Assistant Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to physical therapy assistant and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Physical Therapy Assistant Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

Skills for Physical Therapy Assistant Majors

When studying physical therapy assistant, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• 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.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.

Abilities for Physical Therapy Assistant Majors

Physical Therapy Assistant majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 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.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

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Find Physical Therapy Technician Programs

BS in Health Sciences

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Related Programs

Learn about other programs related to Physical Therapy Technician that might interest you.

BS in Health Sciences

Take your associate degree in an allied health field to the next level with this specialized transfer friendly online bachelor of science from Southern New Hampshire University.

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Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy Assistant?

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of physical therapy assistant majors is as follows:

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Physical Therapy Assistant

Some degrees associated with physical therapy assistant may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for physical therapy assistant careers below.

Online Physical Therapy Assistant Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Majors Related to Physical Therapy Assistant

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to physical therapy assistant.

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.