How to Become an Orthopedic Physical Therapy Practitioner

Orthopedic physical therapists treat musculoskeletal dysfunction and work to improve back health. Several schools offer an accredited program in orthopedic physical therapy. Program goals often include the following components: advanced training in examination, clinical decision-making, treatment skills and exercise prescriptions. Typical residency programs run 1 year in length. Residency programs offer a small compensation to the practitioner during the program, sometimes offsetting the moderately-expensive costs of the typical PT program. Follow these steps to learn more.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access

Instructions

Investigate Medical Programs

1. Evaluate the reputation of orthopedic medical programs. Some programs have significant additional resources available to students. Inquire about scholarships and special study programs.

2. Ask questions about accreditation before paying application fees. Programs that aren't properly accredited will not provide standardized training to students.

3. Check into the programs associated with clinics. You'll want to see state-of-the-art equipment in use. Try to qualify for a program attached to a high-quality clinic.

4. Find out who the teachers in the program are. Ask ahead of time to find out whether the faculty is comprised of industry experts or retired practitioners. It is up to you to determine which you prefer.

5. Seek a program that will qualify you as a NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. As a practitioner, this extra certification and knowledge can help you build your practice. Find out more information at the NSCA Web site (see Resources below).

6. Visit the comprehensive Web site for the "American Physical Therapy Association" further information and resources on becoming accredited (see Resources below).

Understand the Curriculum

1. Plan to study musculoskeletal physiology and development as a part of the academic program. Learning more about the spine, knee, foot, ankle and shoulder is important to an orthopedic therapist.

2. Know that instruction will cover patients with cancer as well as physical therapy treatments that provide a way to lessen pain.

3. Learn about the 2 types of testing for patients who are seeking physical therapy treatments: biochemical and differential diagnostic. You'll learn both during your training.

4. Participate actively in the classes to become well-trained as well as familiar with the regions of the spine. The bulk of orthopedic patients come to a practice after suffering an injury to the spine.

Tips & Warnings

• Realize that physical therapy programs incorporate additional requirements like hospital rotations and supervised clinical patient management.

• Don't expect to treat emergency injuries with physical therapy. If you find your patients start experiencing any fainting spells or slurred speech, arrange for them to get to the nearest emergency room immediately.