Your Career as a Physiotherapist Assistant: Overview and Salary

While Physiotherapist Assistants are not licensed practitioners, they play an important role within a physiotherapy office and help licensed practitioners deliver quality care to their patients. Physiotherapist Assistants work behind the scenes and as important coordinators for the physical therapy of all patients. Any physiotherapy office will run more effectively with an organized and well-trained Physiotherapist Assistant on board. The following are regular responsibilities and duties of a Physiotherapist Assistant:

§ Prepare for physiotherapy sessions by organizing the treatment based on the patient’s needs

§ Making sure the physiotherapy area is clean and well organized with the needed and necessary equipment

§  Study the patient’s development during physiotherapy sessions and note how the patient is responding. Licensed Physiotherapists will use these notes to evaluate the helpfulness of certain treatments

§  Help patients move from one area of physiotherapy to another – Physiotherapist Assistants need physical strength because they may have to move several immobile patients each day.  Physiotherapist Assistants help patients walk, push them in wheelchairs, and assist in sitting and standing. They are even responsible for helping to pick them up and move them to another location depending on the severity of the patient’s needs.

§  Fulfill regular office duties, such as ordering supplies, answering phone calls, taking appointments, calling patients, and helping complete and file insurance paperwork. Physiotherapist Assistants are able to work in many areas of a facility or clinic, and is a role that requires organizational skills, as well as the ability to be flexible and reliable. While they will always work where

Licensed Physiotherapists work, you will find many opportunities for work in such places as:

§  Private Clinics

§  Hospitals

§  Nursing Homes

§  Rehabilitation Centers

§  Home Care

§  Orthopedic clinics

The average salary for a Physiotherapist Assistant is almost $24,000, while the top ten percent of earners earn close to $35,000.  Some deciding factors in salary would be the experience, and the size and location of the clinic or organization. While working as a Physiotherapist Assistant, you may choose to continue your education to become a Licensed Physiotherapist or pursue another avenue in the healthcare field to earn more money or widen your knowledge of the medical field. Becoming a Physiotherapist Assistant can be a fun and rewarding career. It offers people the ability to work in a steady job in the medical field without taking any tests or requiring any certification, but offers a lot of on the job training and valuable learning in an office or clinical environment. It is also a very important work that helps both patients and doctors in progressing treatment forward and helping to ensure the best care at all levels. For more information about the Physiotherapist Assistant Diploma Program at Anderson College, please contact one of our campuses today.