<p>Great! So now people on the internet that know you use a walker (I thought you were in a chair). are able to assess your ability to complete a physical therapy program and function as a physical therapist. I recommend you get a second (professional) opinion, and by that I mean someone other than the adviser you already spoke to, and certainly not advice from an internet forum. Of course, the advice you receive here is free, and we all know "you get what you pay for." Don't let others tell you what you can and can't do. Figure it out for yourself - and if ultimately you can't, then fine, but don't let others tell you. A blind man can't own a car dealership and buy cars at an auto auction, can he?</p>
<p>
[quote]
A blind man can't own a car dealership and buy cars at an auto auction, can he?
[/quote]
Of course a blind man can own a car dealership. Only a foolish blind man, however, would buy cars at an auction without the assistance of a trusted, sighted partner or employee doing the inspection of the vehicles. The blind car dealer is not equipped to perform all the duties his job requires. Certainly a car dealer would never hire a blind man to attend the auctions, would he? Wolfpiper can certainly own a PT business. But he wouldn't be able to perform all the duties of a PT.</p>
<p>A PT must aid patients learning to regain mobility. That involves full mobility and strength on the part of the PT. Sorry, but a person in a walker can not perform all the physical requirements of the job. The patients will suffer. A PT has to pass the licensing exams, which signify that he can perform ALL the duties of a PT, not just those that don't require lifting, turning, repositioning, and stabilizing patients. If a PT became disabled once he was practicing, he could perform supervisory duties. But a new entrant into the field has to do it all. Why is this so hard to grasp?</p>
<p>Several years ago I injured my wrist very badly and after I got out of my cast, I spent months going to a specialized hand (physical) therapist. All our work was down sitting down and none of it required great strength on her part. The results were something of a miracle for me.</p>
<p>If Wolfpiper didn't want the comments of anonymous posters on a Web forum, she wouldn't have posted her story here. I think the body of advice has been pretty thoughtful.</p>
<p>I don't know how much this relates to what physical therapists do, but here's what I found for physical therapy assistants:
"Becoming a physical therapy assistant usually requires a two-year associate degree. Physical therapy assistants work under the supervision of a physical therapist, helping patients in pain relief, mobility and procedures aimed at eliminating further physical damage or disability.</p>
<p>My thoughts are that given the shortage of physical therapists and the fact that there are few spaces available in training programs, if physical mobility can be an issue, I'd be surprised if a program would admit someone with a disability that would limit her to doing only certain kinds of PT. Of course, I still would suggest that the OP get advice from some informed people, not rely on people on a message board. I wonder, however, if even deans of PT programs will be forthcoming because I fear they may be afraid of being accused of discriminating against the disabled if they admit that the OP's being in a walker could hurt her chances of admission.</p>
<p>I also found this in a hospital's ad seeking a physical therapist:
"Physical requirements
Full mobility and ability to participate in vigorous activity. Must be able to lift 50 pounds and support and move patients. Good visual acuity for accurate reading of equipment and recording on patient charts. If history of back problems noted in post offer assessment, a physician release must be obtained to be eligible for employment."</p>
<p>Perhaps this is off-topic, but will the academic program requirements for PT be any less demanding than those for pharmacy that you originally intended? The competition for placements in PT programs, at least in my state, is fierce, more fierce than pharmacy.</p>
<p>Wow. I've seen demand for PTs go up and down. At one place, 40% dismissed at once. Also, PTs use to get paid overtime or 1 1/2 for weekend/evening work, but that has been eliminated too. On the other hand, pharmacists I know earn $100000, compared to $40-45,000. Nothing against PT/OT, but many people I know take courses to move into administration when they get older, as the work is physically demanding. I know this post sounds discouraging, but I think there are better opitions in the health field.</p>
<p>Salary range for a PT at our local hospital, for a BA only, in a small town with low housing costs, is listed as $57.3 - $78.5k plus full benefits. In private practices, it could be significantly more. However, it is also true that salaries for both PTs and pharmacists have not risen as steeply in recent years as those for RNs.</p>
<p>I had a sports injury in November (leg) that required PT services. I have no idea what the level of your disability is, but I can tell you that my PT had to be able to walk fast, run, and jump both to illustrate what had happened, and also to give me specific exercise instructions. She also had to crawl on a raised mat, and use her entire body strength to provide flexible resistance against my leg.</p>
<p>I recommended speech therapy a couple of months ago to you, and I still think that it's a viable health profession for you to look into. </p>
<p>It does seem as if PT requires a lot of physical movement and strength. I don't know what you are capable of doing physically or what the program requires. I am not sure whether someone can be trained only in one specific area of PT such as hand PT. My initial guess would be that the student would not be able to participate in the program while only participating in certain aspects of training (i.e. those related to hand PT). I think that your advisor was insensitive and went about his job badly. It is his responsibility to prepare you for the rigors of the field, make sure that you are informed, and make sure you want to and are able to succeed in the field. I do think he should have acted differently than the way you described. His concerns, though, do not seem to be unfounded. He should question whether you've thought this through completely, whether you are truly dedicated to working around or working with your disability for this job, and whether you will be physically capable of succeeding. I think it would be worse if he encouraged you into the program, didn't ask questions, and told you that your disability wouldn't be a problem if he believed otherwise.</p>
<p>I had PT with an athletic trainer in high school everyday for the duration of the sport (I was out for the season, but remained on the team). I had similar experiences as many of the other posters. Lots of moving around, lifting, pushing, walking, standing, bending, etc. This often included bracing herself on the floor with her legs while using her whole body's strength with the patient. I have no idea whether these things would be a problem for you, but there was a lot of leg and lower body movement and strength required while using the upper body to manipulate or provide resistance or whatever else. One of the trainers I worked with for a couple of weeks was incredibly strong. He was one of the trainers for the Boston Red Sox, so the brute strength and balance he needed throughout his body to provide adequate resistance was immense.</p>
<p>I remember many years ago interviewing for a journalism grad school slot. Those were the days that men were the journalists - few if any women. U of IL CH/U prof told me that I should look into something else. He didn't like women. I was furious! But I decided to go into something else. If I had to fight that battle in school, what chances were there of getting a decent job? I now realize that he did me a favor. I wasn't into chasing windmills back then. Now, I would go for it. I really was too young at the time to fight those major battles back then. OTOH, perhaps he wanted to see how determined I was. I will never know. Things have a way of working out.</p>
[quote]
“When I was in college, the big joke was that I would be a neurosurgeon,” he says. “Well, I would never go into something where my disability would handicap me. I wanted to be very good at what I did.”