Physical therapists are healthcare professionals who diagnose and treat all kinds of people, from the youngest to the oldest, who have limited movement and functional activities as a result of an illness, accident, and/or injury. As they examine and treat patients, they also formulate a plan using treatment techniques that will promote the ability to move, restore function, lessen pain, and prevent further disability. Treatment techniques may include functional training, manual therapy techniques, therapeutic exercises, and devices and equipment that are assistive and adaptive. Physical therapists work as a team with doctors, nurses, educators, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and social workers. They all consult and practice with each other.

The job of a physical therapist is physically demanding and difficult. Since they have to assist their patients, they have to bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, lift and stand for long periods. Their job requires them to work even on evenings, weekends and holidays. They work in hospitals, outpatient’s clinics, and private offices that have specially equipped facilities.

It is important for a physical therapist to have good communication skills and know how to teach patients about their condition and physical therapy treatments. He should also be compassionate and have the deep desire to help others.

Demand for physical therapist is expected to grow in the coming years. Elderly population is increasing and they are the ones who are vulnerable to chronic and debilitating conditions that need therapeutic services. There is also an increase in patients suffering from heart attacks and strokes, thus raising the demand for cardiac and physical rehabilitation. There is also a demand from people for educational information regarding physical therapy, injury prevention, and ways to promote good health.

A physical therapist is expected to undergo skill training as a requirement. Skills needed include the following:

• Active listening, wherein they are trained to listen and give full attention to what the other people are saying and at the same time understand the points being made
• Teaching others how to do something
• Managing their own time
• Speaking with others to express information effectively.
• Critical thinking using logic and reasoning to know the strengths and weaknesses as alternative solutions to problems
• Learning strategies, choosing and using training or instructional methods and procedures suitable for the situation when learning new things
• Active learning, wherein they understand the consequences of new information.
• Monitoring self performance and the performance of other people to make necessary changes and improvements
• Reading comprehension, wherein you understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents

A physical therapist must be able to communicate information and ideas orally to others. At the same time, he must know how to listen and understand what others are saying. He must be sensitive enough to recognize that something is wrong. He should be an expert in making written reports. He must be capable of inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is the ability to form general conclusions based on the pieces of information gathered, while deductive reasoning is the ability to apply general conclusions to specific situations to be able to come up with sensible answers. Lastly, he should know how to arrange actions in a specific order or pattern based on a set of rules. All these are skills and abilities that a physical therapist must possess for him to be able to perform his job.