Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners

How to become a Physical Therapist

Official title: Physical Therapists

Also called: Acute Care PT (Acute Care Physical Therapist), Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), Home Care Physical Therapist (Home Care PT), Inpatient Physical Therapist (Inpatient PT), Outpatient Physical Therapist (Outpatient PT), Pediatric Physical Therapist (Pediatric PT), Registered Physical Therapist (RPT), Therapist

Assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and improve or correct disabling conditions resulting from disease or injury.

Main tasks

Plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients.
Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention.
Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient's chart or enter information into computer.
Instruct patient and family in treatment procedures to be continued at home.
Evaluate effects of treatment at various stages and adjust treatments to achieve maximum benefit.
Confer with the patient, medical practitioners, or appropriate others to plan, implement, or assess the intervention program.
Administer manual exercises, massage, or traction to help relieve pain, increase patient strength, or decrease or prevent deformity or crippling.
Obtain patients' informed consent to proposed interventions.

How to become one

Physical therapists entering the occupation need a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree. All states require physical therapists to be licensed.

Typical education to start: Doctoral or professional degree

Read the full guide from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Ways in

College: Allied Health degrees, Offered by 15 universities in the US
Licence: A licence is required in 47 states.

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

Median pay: $102,760 a year The middle half earn $86,160 to $121,160.
About 283,700 people work in this job now, and about 317,600 are projected by 2035. (+11.9%)
People already use generative AI for some of this work. Microsoft Research rates its AI applicability as medium.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Physical Therapist?

Physical therapists entering the occupation need a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree. All states require physical therapists to be licensed.

How much does a Physical Therapist earn in the US?

Median full-time pay is $102,760 a year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The middle half earn $86,160 to $121,160.

Is a Physical Therapist a growing career in the US?

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 12% by 2035, from about 283,700 to about 317,600 people (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Do you need a degree to become a Physical Therapist?

Usually. 95% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a Physical Therapist?

People already use generative AI for some of this work. Microsoft Research rates its AI applicability as medium.

Sources

Microsoft Research: Working with AI: AI applicability by occupation (2025-12-22 (built on O*NET 29.0)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment Projections (2025-35 (released 2026-08-27)), Public domain (BLS), retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook (2025-35 edition (published 2026-08-27)), Public domain (BLS); photographs excluded, retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), Public domain (BLS), retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.