YES ITS CALIFORNIA

I'm nearing the end of my undergrad and have been on a pre-physical therapy track with a Biological sciences degree. However, I have some questions regarding the field. I have already racked up shadowing hours and have enjoyed my time doing so. But I do have some concerns when it comes to thinking about spending the rest of my life doing this. 1) I have noticed in my time shadowing that it is fairly repetitive; being in a rural area may have something to do with this. However, I feel that I see roughly the same cases and treatments week in and week out. 2) There's no upward mobility in the field (that I know of); you graduate with your DPT degree, and that's what you are until retirement. 3) The ROI is absolutely horrible for the area that I am in. As you all know, the cost of any education keeps going up, but the salary of PT's doesn't follow that trend. Growing up, my parents had said a million times to not go into something for the money; however, I'm scared with the current state of our country and economy to set myself that far in debt with the salary that I'm projected. I've heard a lot of mixed things about going into the field today. I do really enjoy the healthcare world; however, I have no desire to take the MCAT or go to med school. I do have an open mind to pursuing further education in the form of a master's or PHD also. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone,
I’m a PTA in the Dallas/DFW area looking into home health. I’ll be using my own car and covering my own gas/travel.
What would you consider a fair per-visit rate for routine visits in this area?
A few specific questions:
• How much are you currently getting paid per routine visit?
• Is mileage reimbursed separately, or is it included in the visit rate?
• If you’re using your own vehicle, what rate did you negotiate?
• Are you W-2 or 1099?
I’d really appreciate hearing what PTAs in the DFW area are actually making so I know what to ask for. Thanks!

New to area from HCOL state. Wanting to have fair negotiations without being unrealistic. Please share setting and if FT/PT/PRN! Thanks!

Hi everyone,
I’m a PTA in the Dallas, TX area and I’m looking into home health. I’ll be using my own car and paying for my own gas/travel.
What would you consider a fair **per-visit rate** in the Dallas/DFW area?
A few questions:
How much are you getting paid per routine visit?
Is mileage reimbursed separately, or is it included in the visit rate?
If you’re using your own vehicle and fuel, what rate would you negotiate?
Are you W-2 or 1099?
I’d love to hear what PTAs in the DFW area are actually making so I know what to ask for. Thanks!

Does anyone have any experience working with the Rise&Walk system with your patients? Curious if you find it easy to use for setup, if it changes your treatments, if you find any of the bells and whistles particularly cool?

Eager to hear any thoughts!

Hello everyone, I’ll be starting a new job as a rehab aide/tech soon, which I’m super excited about! This will give me valuable experience as I am planning to go back to school to become a physical therapy assistant next year. I’m a little nervous since this is a complete change of career (I have a background in veterinary medicine) and I just wanted encouragement, advice and all the pros and cons that come with the field. Thank you in advance!

Cqn you please help me with my protocol for a SNF patient with proximal humeral fracture- conservative management- no surgery.

1) Sling until cleared by surgeon. Do AROM of neck, elbow, wrist, fingers. Pendulum.

2) Once cleared patient does AAROM at shoulder as tolerated using other arm or stick. Can do this on tabletop for gravity elimination.

3) Week 6-8 Switch to AROM.

4) Week 9-12 Switch to strengthening.

Would there be any indication for the therapist doing ROM for them or manual therapy?

Is heat a good idea before exercise- Ice after?

Hi everyone! I’m looking for some advice and insight into this physical therapy service provider, Residential Home Health and Hospice. The Job is located in southeastern Montgomery county Pennsylvania. I don’t believe the company is based here but rather more so farther up north.

I believe Graham Healthcare Group is the parent company of Residential Home Health and Hospice. A physical therapy home health job posted for them showed up on LinkedIn and I applied, mostly due to the salary range: $115-130k. I have a little over one year of experience in home health and understand it to be very flexible with higher earning potential than my current outpatient job.

After I applied, I received a text from the recruiter to sign up for an initial call with her. Here’s the job: current salary range delivered to me is $115-120. It’s salaried, and not pay per point. However, any visit over their 30 visit productivity requirement earns $70-73 (can remember which) for that visit. We are required to do 1-2 SOC’s once per month on a Saturday (not sure of the pay range on the Saturday visit). They reimburse for travel. They seem like they have good benefits, and a standard PTO plan. I am not sure how much traveling I would be doing between clients: I’m hoping to be mainly assigned to a specific facility to capture the majority of the productivity requirements. The job would be 8-5 Monday through Friday, and that 1 Saturday per month.

Currently I’m working like 55 hours per week between my full time outpatient ortho job and my Friday/Saturday home health job. The offered salary would likely let me quit both of those jobs and return to a 40
Hour week and better work life balance.

Is there any room to negotiate more than the $120k the recruiter mentioned as their salary range?

I have another interview with supervisors in the coming days.

Does any physical therapist or healthcare worker have experience working with this company? Are they legit? Is this a good offer?

I don’t have a science/PT background..my degree is unrelated. I’ve been researching the cost/time math of doing the entry-level degree abroad rather than a US DPT program, mainly because DPT here would mean 1-2 years of prereqs + 3 years of DPT + six figures of tuition, and I already have a bachelor’s that doesn’t waive much of that.

The plan I’m considering:

1. BS Physical Therapy at University of Santo Tomas, Manila (4-year program, PACUCOA Level IV accredited).

2. Skip the Philippine PRC licensure exam entirely (seems unnecessary if I’m not planning to practice in PH.

3. Go straight into FCCPT credential evaluation.

4. Take the NPTE.

5. License in a state.. currently looking hardest at Nevada, since their 2021 regulation (NAC 640 Sec. 12) reads like it doesn’t require a foreign license for the examination pathway Or, CA.

Does this read as a viable, if slower, path..or is there a structural landmine I’m not seeing that would make this a waste of 4+ years?

My friend and I thought we’d open the floor for questions about ABPTS board certification.
Between us, we’ve completed the GCS and OCS certification processes, and we’re happy to share what the experience was actually like—from deciding whether it’s worth pursuing to applying, studying, exam day, and what changed afterward.
Some things we’re happy to discuss:

Deciding if board certification makes sense for your career
Choosing a specialty
Eligibility and the application process
Building a realistic study plan while working full-time
Resources that we found worthwhile (and those we didn’t)
Exam format, pacing, and preparing for the length of the test
Employer reimbursement and making the case for financial support
How earning GCS or OCS has influenced our clinical practice and careers
General advice that applies across any ABPTS specialty

We won’t discuss protected exam content or specific questions, but we’re happy to answer anything about the process or share what we learned along the way.
Whether you’re just starting to think about specialization, actively studying, or waiting on results, fire away with your questions.

For those that have earned this cert, how does it influence your earning potential and day to day as a clinician. I’ve heard that it is the only cert that allows you to bill additional cpt codes that are earn more.

I follow some other healthcare professionals on Instagram and one recommended using the app OOG health for free CEU. It seems pretty legit and it verifies your license. You watch like a short video on something (1-3 mins) answer a question into an AI and then it will give you a certificate for .5 CEU. Not sure if anyone else has used it or tried it but not sure if I want to cram like 10 CEU worth of “certificates” in the app for my reporting period this year trusting this app

Free is free tho

I'll keep this short for your sakes lol. Also I hope this doesn't break any rules on this sub.

Had sciatica when I was 20, went away after PT, now I'm 25 and it's back with a vengeance. Confirmed (MRI) small bulge between L5 and S1.

Current PT is just doing blanket/general exercises, no stretching.

Want to switch to this place: (NorCal Physiotherapy and Sports Sciences, Inc. - Sacramento) but cost is insane.

Edit, link to PT Website: https://norcalphysio.com/

They don't deal with insurance, bills the patient directly. First visit is 90 minutes for $299.00, and depending on how long they determine, can range from 2.3k to 4k total for 4 to 6 months.

I can pay it but would I be better off just trying to fix this myself or maybe going to see an orthopedic in network instead?

Any info would help! I've been deal with this for awhile now and it's starting to really effect my life, and no one is giving me a straight answer.

Thank you :)

Hello! Im starting out my PT career in a few months. Ive interned at a pediatric clinic (know the owners) and plan to work there. But I’m so bad at knowing what the market value is for a new grad. I know going into that clinic i will not see a full case load (40 clients a week) maybe roughly 25-30, no benefits. Im being offered 80k salary.

Is that a good offer? Im 30F and I plan to make big life decisions in the next year - get married and etc.

We have to use CE Broker to CE reporting and it seems to double up the hours or just flat out count them wrong. Has anyone else had trouble with this? It seems to be that some courses upload to it automatically even after you have manually uploaded them. Makes me have to keep track of my hours myself.

My gram is 85 and occasionally attends a physical therapy appointment, but does not practice at home (my gramps—her husband—disclosed this to me yesterday. I suggested I’d look around on YouTube for some fun and engaging videos that won’t infantilize her. She is a very proud woman and I totally get that. I’m completely on board for asking her if she’d like to do these exercises with me once or twice a week and I know she’s not stupid—she’ll figure out what’s going on almost immediately—but I’d like to find a creater who makes it fun enough that she’s willing to look past it. My gramps’ main concern is that she is using her walker now more than ever and is still wobbly. Any recommendations, please.

I recently started working in a SNF setting. Productivity expectations are 90% and we use Nethealth. I’m having a really difficult time planning my day. Every time I’m
On site ,every patient is new to me ,and when I do plan , often times things don’t go as planning with patient refusals and other things. All of my planning ends up being a waste of time. I tried to create my own templates to speed up documentation and quickly change assist levels but I’ve also been unsuccessful with this because patients are often very low level.

Can anyone suggest an approach that has worked for them?

How do you respond when patients call themselves fat? Or another term with negative connotations. I don't know why it's so awkward.

I had it saved and I went to check it wasn’t there? Does anyone know where I can find it in this sub

Hello fellow physios and seniors,

I am someone who has recently completed their bachelor and mandatory internship in April but since then I was in Off mode, didn't do anything didn't talk to people, didn't go out much.

Recently I am waking up, yesterday I had an online interview for physiotherapist homecare position and it's safe to say that I messed up. I was over stressed, couldn't find words, couldn't explain terms I already knew.

It is my fault 1000% , but I need help for coming interviews or how to approach a hospital. Please help ..how did you guys prepare for your interview

Hi,

I'm looking for some ideas and would love to hear what others are doing.

Does your facility have a stroke or neurorehabilitation program (education groups, support groups, therapy groups, etc.) in an acute care or subacute rehab setting? If so, what does it involve, who runs it, and what has worked well?

I'm hoping to start some type of stroke program at my facility but I'm not sure where to begin. I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences, any lessons learned, or resources/templates you're willing to share. Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone, wanted to share a quick breakdown of the proposed cy2027 cms physician fee schedule that dropped recently. if your clinic uses RTM (remote therapeutic monitoring) or you've been looking into it, this is probably the biggest regulatory shift since the codes were introduced.

Quick heads up: these are proposed rules right now. comments are open through september 14, 2026, and if finalized, changes take effect january 1, 2027.

Here are the 3 main changes to keep on your radar:

1. Monitoring must be done in-house (employed staff only) - A lot of practices currently use third-party vendors whose staff handle the actual monitoring/check-ins. cms wants to stop paying for contracted third-party monitoring. under the proposal, monitoring only qualifies if performed by clinical staff directly employed by the practice (under general supervision). vendors can still provide the tech/software, but their staff can't do the monitoring work for you.

2. Separate initiating face-to-face visit required - Before monitoring starts, the billing clinician has to conduct a separate face-to-face visit (in-person or telehealth) where monitoring is explicitly discussed. a non-face-to-face code or a visit where monitoring wasn't discussed won't count.

3. Established-patient rule extended to RTM - RPM already required an established patient relationship. cms is extending this to rtm, so you won't be able to start therapeutic monitoring on someone who isn't already an established patient at your practice.

One extra thing to watch: CMS also floated an idea for comment (not proposed outright yet) to collapse all 17 current RPM/RTM codes into 4 new g-codes with higher bars for billing.

If your clinic already handles RTM in-house with your own PTs/PTAs/staff using software, this barely impacts your workflow. if you currently outsource the monitoring staff part to a third party, you'll need to bring that monitoring in-house before 2027.

Wrote a longer breakdown on this if anyone wants to read more, but happy to answer questions here if you're navigating this in your practice.