Professionals in this field provide treatment to improve mobility, relieve pain, and limit physical disabilities of individuals suffering from injuries or disease. Their patients include accident victims and individuals with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, burns, amputations, head injuries, fractures, back pain, arthritis, and heart disease. Physical therapists test and measure patient strengths, weakness, range of motion, and ability to function. They develop treatment plans which describe treatment strategies, their purposes, and their anticipated outcomes. Treatments may involve stretching stiff joints and muscles or using electricity, heat, and ultrasound to relieve pain or improve function.
Therapists also teach patients to use crutches, prostheses, and wheelchairs.
Hospitals are a major employer of physical therapists. Other therapists are employed by physicians, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, home health agencies, and schools. Physical therapists can also enter into private practice, providing services to individual patients or contracting their services to various public or private health care agencies. Individuals interested in physical therapy can choose to receive entry level training either through an undergraduate or a graduate program. Students choosing an undergraduate program enter as Freshmen or transfer to the program after completing two or three years of undergraduate training at another institution.