Non-trad/Career changers, why did you choose PT?

[twotired]

This post about a 30 y/o businessman looking to make a change made me curious about why other people in the work force chose to pursue PT as a career. I'd also like to hear about what sorts of careers are people making the switch from and how they ended up making the decision to switch.

Users @Dinked , @ClayborneCR , and @Grizzlyman shared some of their experiences in the above thread. I'm interested in hearing from more people but I didn't want to hijack OP's thread (also b/c OP said he didn't want to discuss his reasons).

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[pegasuscvc]

I think I would be called a "non-traditional student." I entered DPT school when I was 29 and graduated 10 days before my 32nd birthday. I made the switch from a job (can't really call it a "career") in psychology.

My original plan was to go into Marriage counseling. I graduated in Psychology and was accepted into a Master's program for marriage counseling in 2009. It's a very long story, but to cut it down short there was another student with connections to faculty who was offended by something I said during a practice therapy session. I apologized multiple times and tried to work things out with her, but to no avail. I didn't think a squabble with another student would have any bearing on my schooling, but I was expelled from the program, with the only reason given being "interpersonal issues," (quoted from the expulsion letter). I appealed to all levels. At one point I thought I "won," because the vote was 2-2 from the faculty, but the decision was upheld. This was in 2011.

After that, I worked as a PSR worker (and pretty much hated it) while looking for other career options. I discovered PT completely by accident. My wife become pregnant with our first child shortly after I was expelled, causing an old undiagnosed back injury to flare up several months into the pregnancy. She was sent to a physical therapist to have it worked on. After a couple of sessions, she came home and told me I should come with her to her next appointment (sometime in fall 2011), because she thought I might like working in PT. I did, which is how my first observation hours started. We were originally thinking of me going for PTA since it would be less (and cheaper) school, but after a lot of serious thought I decided I wanted to go the whole nine yards. I went back to school in 2012 for the 4-5 prereq classes I was missing, applied in the 2012-2013 application cycle, and started PT school in fall 2013.

I've been a licensed PT for almost a year now and love it. Now I look back and don't know what I was thinking going into marriage counseling. I'm seriously not the kind of person that could listen to people complain all day every day without getting burnt out and miserable, but at the time I was thinking more about how my career would help the world. In my young brain I figured if I felt like I was saving the world it would automatically make me happy, LOL. Nope. In the end my expulsion was a blessing, although it didn't seem that way at the time!

 

[Smash Atoms]

Following.

Plan on replying when finals are over and my brain starts working again.

 

[jblil]

My first career was in mechanical engineering. If you have ever put a check into an ATM, you're using technology that my colleagues and I developed many many moons ago as we invented that feature. After about 10 years I got tired of engineering and became a troubleshooter for a very large international organization. They sent me to some horrible places overseas but the work was interesting and paid well. Due to family reasons, I came back to the US, got a MBA and was hired by a software company. I eventually got tired of the frantic pace in that industry, where everything was due yesterday and where quality is often sacrificed for time-to-market. At about the same time, several members of my family suffered strokes and I had the chance to chat with the PTs/OTs at the rehab clinic where my relatives were being treated. It sounded like an interesting field where I could later apply some of my background in engineering and software. So I went back to school (4th time) and was by far the oldest student in my class. I had an absolute ball.

As I mentioned in a previous post, healthcare is a field where your age is often an advantage; patients view you as more experienced and seasoned.

We happen to live in a country where re-inventing oneself is relatively easy, at any age. Take advantage of it.

 

[Skyris]

For the sake of brevity I'll just say my 20's were a mess... a complete mess like, I'm lucky to even be here. I had no idea what I wanted to do, and in my search for a career, I probably considered everything. My selection of PT was a cold, calculating decision. It was a good compromise between required years of preparation, job market/security, barriers to entry, nature of the work, and pay. While I was taking the pre-reqs I was still uncommitted between PT and PA, and then my dad got Parkinsons. I went to some of his PT sessions... we saw a team of neuro-specialized PT's and the whole experience was magical. That was that. It's going to be very difficult being across the country from him for the next 3 years, knowing with the progression of his disease, he's not going to be the same when I come back. But with any luck, when I do come back, I'll be able to help him even a little. And he's very proud of what I'm doing after where I've been.

It seems as though many non-trads have had illustrious or successful careers before PT, so for anyone reading this who is floundering through their twenties, barely able to imagine how they could weasel their way into a grown-up job and barely able to see the light... just know it's possible. Looking back from where I am now I can see so many ways that my experiences, even my negative ones, are going to be personal and professional assets, in ways I never could have imagined when I was going through them.

 

[Heardyoudpt]

I got my B.S. in Civil Engineering and became active duty Coast Guard in 2007. The job was interesting enough and I liked living in new places every few years and the travel that came along with it, but my heart was never really in it. I'm not the type of person to "work to live", I need to be engaged in what I'm doing no matter how big my paycheck is. I found myself less and less interested in most of the stuff that I was doing, and the more senior I became the more I found myself involved in making policy and decisions about stuff that I didn't really care about. Around my 5 year mark, when I could leave, I started looking into options and happened to tear my ACL around that time. I went to Physical Therapy and thought it was a great environment. I talked to a few PTs and decided to stay in the Coast Guard a few more years while I took (an re-took) some pre-requisites - I had over 30 credits to do at that point because of the the age and type of my degree. I started with Human A&P at the local university when I transferred and really loved the subject, especially muscle movement and bone structure, so I went ahead with the others. My last year of work (2016), I started doing shadowing after work and on my days off and at that point had no reservations about leaving my job to pursue PT. I figured I might be a long shot and need a couple of tries because my cGPA from undergrad was a 2.88, but with my pre-reqs I had pulled it up to over 3.0 and had a lot of extracurriculars, life experience, and confidence that I didn't have 10 years ago to make up for it. I left the Coast Guard last August with almost 9 years of AD (for those who aren't familiar, that's almost 1/2 way to a retirement stipend, so some people thought I was crazy for not sticking it out for another 11 years, haha) and got into a program starting this summer! The Coast Guard could be rewarding work and I was a part of some amazing things, but my heart wasn't in it and the politics became too much for me. What I love about PT is the chance to actually have an impact on somebody's life and to promote a healthy lifestyle so that people can continue doing what they love.

 

[Bluecase]

Was miserable working in the private sector in early 20s. Had always loved science and realized sitting behind a desk and in meetings was my nightmare. I was miserable to be around for those two years. Got into a bad accident and had a student PT who helped me get back to where I was before and decided after that to go back and take pre reqs while my wife was in graduate school. Waited a few more years while she finished so we would always have at least one income (I worked a retail job in the meantime) and started school at 26. I haven't looked back one second since. It is always tough changing but it is a very rewarding career and I love helping people and I also love the profession. You have to work 35ish years anyway so might as well do something you like for the big bulk of it. I am also someone who also decided after the private sector that I would value happiness over money and while I do believe that we are underpaid for what we do (not trying to start that conversation here) I would gladly take my current salary for the happiness I get from work over my old salary and abject misery


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[scrawnyguy]

I spent my 20s and early 30s in the Army. I was a pretty good soldier, but I hated it most of the time. It wasn't exactly intellectually challenging or fulfilling. Every time my contract was expiring I considered leaving the service and pursuing something else, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. It wasn't until I meant the woman that eventually became my wife that I decided to pursue PT. She's a dietitian and trainer who restoked my interest in health and fitness. At 33 I left the Army to pursue my prereqs and complete an internship at a neuro rehab hospital. I'm now finishing up my 1st semester of PT school. To be quite honest I'm not sure this will be my final career stop. Perhaps after finishing school and actually practicing for a bit I will feel differently, but I'm not sure if I have the passion about the field that a lot of people do. In another decade you might find me on an entirely differently forum, pursuing an entirely different career.

 

[starrsgirl]

I was also in the military and really loved it....I mean I loved being IN the military, my job was just OK. I think I always had my heart set on medical school since I was about 16. I had a military med school scholarship in undergrad and lost that due to GPA. I tried to retake the pre med pre reqs while in the military, but I just couldn't get the classes done around my schedule (I was gone a lot and lots of night shifts). I also didn't have access to a non community college school (generally you can't use the community college pre reqs for med school like you can for PT school). Life kept moving, I got married, had kids, still couldn't get the pre reqs done without separating from my family. I really wanted an academically challenging career...part of why I liked my military job was that it was very difficult day to day. I was a personal trainer on the side and enjoyed that, I also taught in a community college and tutored for a while. I started considering other health careers that were kinder to a non traditional setup. I looked at nursing, PA and PT. I didn't connect with nursing, I didn't have the grades for PA, so that left PT. I happened to have a masters in Exercise Science already, so it seemed like a good fit. I decided PT school was a good compromise solution for me and my family.

I just finished PT school and sometimes I wonder if I will stay long term in the field. I wish I had considered the salary a bit more. I don't have any school debt, so I brushed the salary factors aside, but it was tough to take my first job offer at a significant pay cut to what I made before. I've contemplated going back into my old field as a government employee. I'm hoping the military will let me back in as a PT (that would be a decent pay increase.) I will also consider private practice PT.

I also found PT school and clinicals to be much less challenging than I anticipated. I feel confused by this profession that wants to be a doctorate level but I'm still looking for that level of academics and clinical practice. I still really struggle to understand why we took the profession to this level sometimes.

For what it's worth, I think my story is also a lesson learned in following your heart. I got to the end, I finished PT school....but I still kinda wish I pursued med school. I was with a ton of medical students and residents on my last clinical rotation and I was a bit more interested in their work than mine. I was impatient to start school in something, and I was scared of the ridiculous residency hours of the med students. But, as an older student, I should have realized that there aren't too many limits on age with returning to school.

 

[jblil]

I hope that this thread will be read by all the "younger" folks out there, because I think it illustrates a few important points:

1. Money is not everything: most of us non-trads had fairly lucrative careers, yet we willingly gave them up to return to school and live a rather austere life for 3 years. For some (me included), working in a job we do not like is tantamount to Chinese water torture. It won't kill you outright, but it will be mentally unbearable. I have practically zero stress now in my PT job, and to me that's priceless.

2. Be aware of the starting salary for PT: I agree with starrsgirl, the starting pay is not commensurate with the education we have. But the market sets our salary, so I always get a chuckle when I read comments (often in the big DPT Facebook group) to the effect of "we need to demand higher pay".

3. PT does not have to be your only career: as scrawnyguy and starrsgirl mentioned, keep exploring. As a serial career-changer myself, I think the most important thing you can do once you graduate, is to live below your means. That way, you will avoid being shackled to your job or employer because you direly need the money to fund your lifestyle. And by the same token, try to keep your loans as low as possible if you have to borrow money to go to school.

 

[Heardyoudpt]

I just finished PT school and sometimes I wonder if I will stay long term in the field. I wish I had considered the salary a bit more. I don't have any school debt, so I brushed the salary factors aside, but it was tough to take my first job offer at a significant pay cut to what I made before. I've contemplated going back into my old field as a government employee. I'm hoping the military will let me back in as a PT (that would be a decent pay increase.) I will also consider private practice PT.

Just wondering if you had considered PHS? People ask me that question a lot. If I wasn't married to a guy who hates the idea of uprooting his life every few years, I would strongly consider it because I would still get all of the perks of the military life that I loved. Depending on where we're at at the end of school, I'd also love to get into the VA. One reason I felt strongly about PT in the beginning was because TRICARE sent me to a pretty ****ty PT in my area and I was super annoyed that anyone, let alone a veteran, would have to get such mediocre service just because TRICARE can be difficult to work with. Plus, I'd be able to apply almost 13 years towards federal retirement.

 

[Smash Atoms]

I will truncate my early history, but an important foot note is that while I have always been interested in health and related fields, I had dropped out of high school so the idea of entering any allied health field felt like a pipe dream.
Life leads in twists and turns when you let it, and I ended up running a record label for a few years before finding myself managing for a large music retailer in various stores around the US. I had not really enjoyed it the entire time and many of my mentors with the business regularly told me I was wasting my talent in that business, which I think may have helped rebuild the confidence lost from prior academic shortcomings. After spending 2 years developing a new position with the executive team at the corporate office the salary had finally been approved, but a week before the offer came in I had decided to resign and go back to school and start over from box 1...

The reasons were not as cut and dried as your typical "PT changed my/someone I loves life". It was more an issue of me loving anatomy and physiology, being profoundly interested in health in general, and being honest with myself about my interests, motivations, and emotional capacities. I looked really hard at MD or DO, but I do not really like pharmacology or western medicines tendency towards pharmacological interventions, and if I ever found myself in an emergency room rotation I absolutely do not have the emotional strength to deal with a parent bringing in a lifeless child. I also really appreciate the 1 to 1 time that some fields of PT get, and I like to see someone more than once to watch the results of our work accrue. I believe that motor function plays such an enormous role in individual happiness, productiveness, and overall well being... And there is no doubt that a single individuals attitude and actions can have a resonant effect across a community.
So in the end PT ended up aligning most with my own motivations and interests, so here I sit 2 months away from finally putting in my application to grad school.

Money certainly was not a motivator - I can only hope to make as much in PT eventually compared to what I walked away from when I resigned... But as stated before, when you spend 60 waking hours in a week in a position where you are unhappy, stressed, unable to disconnect.... The money becomes secondary to happiness. You begin to look at existential questions like "if I died tomorrow what would I do today", or "what will people say at my funeral, what will I have accomplished in my life"... And for me those questions were heavy enough for me to take the risk and jump careers.

 

[gotaspirations]

I graduated with my bachelors in Chemistry when I was 23. I did undergraduate research in my field, research symposiums, and also was lucky enough to be on one peer reviewed publication. After I graduated, I got a full time job working at a terrible biopharmaceutical. Going to work was not fun and was incredibly tedious. Granted, this was not the lab/research job that I was looking for. My long term goal at the time was to eventually get into a PhD program in chemistry and work in a better biopharmaceutical.

But one day, I was involved in a motor vehicle accident as a passenger and almost lost my life. I lost partial vision, suffered TBI, and totaled 5 surgeries. I recall crying in the hospital not sure why this had happened to me. I couldn’t even make it to the bathroom and urine would spill all over the hospital floor. I needed help showering, putting on my clothes, and I also remember crying because the escalators were going too fast for me because the elevators were too far away.. I remember holding a nurse's hand before mandatory surgery because I was so scared.

The health care professionals were so amazing to me be throughout my recovery and I really liked PT in particular because you are seeing someone recover. I considered going to NP school, but felt like that involved more interactions with body fluids.

Struggling in a wheelchair, I overcame that. Struggling in crutches, I overcame that. Struggling after not one, but multiple surgeries, I overcame that. Being told I wasn’t going to gain my full range of motion was terrifying, but I overcame that. I chose to come into the PT field, because I know the amazing impact the PTs have on their patients. Although I was not working full time in my previous field for all too long, I really do believe that being a PT would make me happy at the end of the day.

 

[Newptstudent88]

I stumbled upon Physical Therapy and fell in love with it. Just like OP, I got my bachelors in Business Management and worked as a stockbroker for a few years after. I was working in a call center environment and was miserable. I was always a physically active person since I was young (Martial arts, wrestling, mma) and loved exercising as an adult. I decided that I wanted to become a personal trainer. I got my certified strength and conditioning certificate and started training clients and loved it. Only part of the career that turned me off was the unstable nature. I knew that if another recession occurred, that would be the first thing people would cut out of their lives and I would be out of a job. Inside the gym I was working at, there was a physical therapy clinic. The therapist I shadowed there was still to this day the best therapist I can say I have shadowed. He graduated from Duke and was a rockstar. The way he treated patients and made them feel better in a short amount of time was remarkable. So I decided to pursue it. Went back to school for prerequisites and I haven't actually started PT school yet, I start in August. I am 28 years old and will be turning 29 shortly after I start.

 

[twotired]

I went to an undergrad university that had a 6-year DPT program. I had no knowledge about physical therapy as a profession until I became an resident assistant, where I met other students on staff who were on the DPT track. I was inspired by their stories of working with patients and feeling like they made a difference.

I myself was working towards my B.S. in Biology and by the end I had completed two 6-month full-time internships with biotechnology companies. I enjoyed doing research and for a time I was torn between pursuing higher level research work and going into a more patient-oriented healthcare career. I was surrounded by peers who were on track to become nurses, pharmacists, etc. But PT appealed to me because of its relative degree of autonomy, sense of entrepreneurship, and ability to build meaningful working relationships with patients.

Once I graduated I accepted a job offer from one of my previous biotech internship employers and worked there for a year until I felt I needed to try something new. In that time I studied and sat for the GRE, as well as found shadowing opportunities. In the past year I started working with a clinical research company while I applied for the 2016-2017 cycle.

My internships and research experience have offered me many professional opportunities but I'm excited to be starting PT school (in less than a month!) and pursuing a career I believe I will enjoy.

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Side note: I'm really thankful for everyone who has contributed so far. Corny AF but another reason I love PT is because you get the chance to learn about people and hear their stories.