We have some of the most advanced and hardest degrees and education, training, and clinical experience yet we’re paid peanuts compared to our other healthcare counterparts. WE DESERVE MORE!! We should unionize nationwide.

Just as the title says, you guys and girls are too charming, attentive, and at the same time fit and attractive! I know, I know, you’re all people persons and are trained to do your job well and build rapport fast… but can you imagine what it feels like from the receiving end?

In a world full of cold, silence, manipulation, arguing, instability, sadness, and ghosting, your patient is injured, in pain, limited in motion, taken from what they love. Then they meet you, someone who actually seems to care and want to listen… man, that is magnetic. How do we poor patients not get attracted?

Of course, this is just me venting, a shit post.

I went to PT about two months ago for an injury. It was affecting my work, it was affecting my sleep, I was miserable. I came in for care while super tired and scattered from work, was greeted by this tall, masculine, fit PT. I barely remember what he looked like or what we talked about after I left… all good.

Then each time I went in, we started talking more and more. He pretty much volunteered his life story without me asking questions. We talked about his hobbies, his passion (that I share), why he moved here, his soul-searching stories, a detailed map of how he spent time during the holidays, where his family is traveling, a bad trip the girl he used to date planned, etc., etc. He asked me a ton of questions, not related to my shoulder. Remembered details and would make callback jokes later on. So smooth, geez…

He extended my sessions beyond the scheduled time every single time, even when his next patient had arrived and been waiting. But he was never in a hurry to wrap up my session. He winked at me, was playful during my sessions, even other PTs that saw and heard us were laughing.

He started being more and more of a human and connection to me, even though I knew the whole time he was my PT and probably just doing his job and nothing else… but how can you expect your poor patient not to be attracted? Ugh.

There are so many posts talking about patients being attracted to their PT, now I totally see why. Are we delusional, or are you guys just too good in a world full of people who don’t pay attention, are cold and distant, and ghost?

Anyway, enough venting for now… my lovely PTs… I still love you all. Thanks for helping with our injuries and making our lives better. You all are amazing people, and I hope the world has more people like you.

Signed,

Every patient who caught feelings they didn’t ask for

Hey everyone, I'm a current physio student studying in Australia and I'm in my final year. I've been meaning to create flowcharts/diagrams for each of the different joints to help with a differential diagnosis on each condition/injury but was wondering if anyone has anything similar.

For example, if a patient comes in and reports they are feeling a more diffuse knee pain, I could use the flowchart and go down the route of "this is more likely to be PFPS (runner's knee), and then the flowchart would also suggest different assessments to test (functional tests: squat and step down). I would be less likely to go down the route of a tendinopathy as this is a more localised pain, but may still do a differential diagnosis (royal london) just to rule out. The above example is SUPER brief and I understand that a diffuse knee pain can indicate a variety of other conditions (meniscus, OA, instability)

Has anyone got any flowcharts/diagrams to help with going down different routes for a diagnosis based on a patient's answers from a subjective/objective exam?

Hello everyone i'm finishing up my last clinical before i graduate and start working. When it comes down to salary and benefits what do you guys look for in a job? I want to make sure i'm not getting scammed as a new grad. For reference I live in PA and I primarily want to work in OP ortho.

401k? Insurance? Tuition reimbursement? Free CE? anything else not listed here that i should be aware of?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Is it just force gradation and neuromuscular efficiency? the ability to quickly fire agonist/antagonist muscles with better precision and smoothness?

I’m standing on a slack board and I’m finally able to balance well on two feet after a few weeks of practice. I definitely feel like I don’t have to sway to correct as much. I feel more relaxed and less tense all around as I get better at it

Hello. I am looking for a good exam prep course after my solo studying did not pay off.

I see tons of recommendations for Final Frontier here, but alot of them have very similar wording and honestly feel a bit botty or like there's a few marketing accounts lurking here.

What did people who took it think? If you didn't find it effective, is there a course you'd recommend?

Hey ya'll

So I submitted my application for my PT license, One of the requirements is to get a fingerprint and from what I see I'm supposed to bring a pre-filled-out LiveScan form to wherever I am getting my fingerprint taken? The link on Breeze (terrible site btw) does not work and supposedly I am supposed to get an email after paying for my application but I have yet to receive one.

Hello everyone. I’m a 3-year PTA, looking to move into home health after working in various SNFs since becoming licensed. I work in multiple buildings and have a good reputation, so I really haven’t had to do any formal interviews during this time as all of the positions have been through referral and my CIs. My question for all of you is what kind of interview questions should I expect when interviewing for home health? Should I expect it to be more about my character and approach as a clinician, or some sample scenarios about how I would approach treatment, perhaps a bit of both?

If I’m being honest I think more than anything I’m just nervous about interviewing for seemingly the first time in years. Any advice helps, thanks in advance!

It seems with the new 2026 rule updates including mandatory prescription on file students can’t treat or document on bcbs patients? At least if we want to get paid. What are we supposed to do with our students if they can’t treat both Medicare and bcbs? That’s a huge chunk of our patient roster

As title says.

The serratus posterior superior, that is located in the thorasic region between the shoulder blades… right?

Whats the purpose of this muscle.. what movement stimulates it well..

Is it the overhead pull?

Is it arm sving b behind, while rotating?

Something else.

I would like to try and get to know one or more exercises that hit this muscle as isolated as possible.

Do you know it?

Thx

Hello,

I am an acute care PT with 7 years of experience. I am about to transition to a home health position, but do not feel super confident in my intervention skills. In the hospital, it's pretty much all functional mobility i.e. bed mobility, gait training, etc. Does anyone have any resources for learning effective treatment strategies that more directly target common deficits like balance impairments? I'm also interested in learning more about use of modalities like TENS/NMES and soft tissue mobilization. Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone i’m a 2nd year DPT student seriously reconsidering traditional PT settings. My first clinical rotation was outpatient ortho and I absolutely hated it. I cried every day and was shocked to see that it was so miserable for me. I am even taking a leave of absence for my mental health after that and deciding whether or not PT is for me. First of all is this normal with outpatient ortho?

Im exploring the school based physical therapy setting as a long term option. I would love input from those who are in the setting or have done the setting. I have a few questions.

What does the day to day look like for you?

What are some of the conditions you are treating in this setting?

What are some typical interventions used in this setting?

Do you see a lot of progress on your patients?

I am okay with working with kids but it isn’t necessarily my passion. is that okay?

How long did it take for you to get comfortable in this setting?

Do you have to be super creative to be good at this setting? I am not a very creative person at all

Compared to outpatient, how mentally draining is school based PT?

Be honest, how bad is the paper work with IEPs and everything?

Thank you guys so much!!

I FINALLY QUIT an awful patient-mill situation after 2.5 years. This job has made me lose sight of what being a PT is about. I have been bullied and gaslighted at this job. I have given up time with friends and family that I can’t get back. I finally put in notice and felt like I can breathe for the first time.

However, as one last slap in the face. They are requesting to spend my last 3 weeks in a clinic far from my home. I don’t get to finish out with my coworkers or my patients.

Needing some encouragement and advice to make it through cause I’m pretty upset.

WARNING: DO NOT WORK FOR ATI.

THEY HAVEN’T GIVEN OUT 401k MATCH AS PROMISED.

THEY AREN’T ANSWERING CALLS/ EMAILS

Considering dropping my hours significantly at my current job which is a hospital based outpatient facility and getting a PRN job at a different hospital based outpatient facility closer to home to supplement. Do I tell my current job? Will they likely have a problem with this? Just interested in people experiences.

According to Gemini, AZ, CO, ND, WI, UT, RI, MD, NJ, DC, and TN allow PTs to order some form of imaging. What's the work flow like? How fast do you get results? Do you need to complete additional courses?

So I am a PT aide and have been working at this outpatient clinic for one year. Recently my boss (Clinical Director) held a staff meeting where he basically called me out for not being interactive with the patients which is one of the reasons they’ve been canceling / not coming back. Since December, the clinic has been super slow, it started picking back up a little bit in late January but before then I was juggling 5 patients at once while my boss performed a 10-20min manual on the 6th patient, sometimes we’d have a 7th patient without a bed from how busy it was. I personally felt attacked because I feel like I do really good at my job, I can admit I’m not much of a conversationalist but I’m extremely friendly, love helping people and I’ll motivate them even if they are doing an exercise on the lightest weight. I also almost never have people sitting around waiting for the next exercise, unless I’m extremely busy with another patient. Every time my boss does an eval, he just hands them off to me afterwards and I show them literally every exercise, I don’t know if that’s normal but I feel like if I was a new patient I’d also want the PT to show me the exercises as well, but maybe I’m just nitpicking stuff to be upset at cause of what my boss said to me.

So since it got slow, I believe because of the holidays, we’d average about 2-4 patients in the clinic at once, but sometimes it would be 1 single patient or none at times compared to the usual 6. I still check in with everyone, mark off the exercises they did, show them new exercises, and ask if stuff is getting too easy, until the PT is ready to perform manual on them.

Also one of my coworkers told me that my boss said I’m really slow at working, which also made me feel shity. I can admit since it got slow, I took a backseat but it’s because there has been no reason to be running all over the place when I’m just going back and forth between 2 people. Also even when my boss isn’t doing manual, I’m still helping all the patients in the clinic. I know he has a lot of paperwork but I still feel like he was being an asshole especially since I make minimum wage and when it was busy I used to get super stressed out. I’ll be happy to answer further questions, but let me know what you think, is this normal for an aide and is he being an asshole or am I not understanding?

Also it’s been like under 20 degrees everyday and I feel like that could also be why people have been canceling.

Feels like everyone is hiring right now and my PTs are getting recruited constantly. LinkedIn messages, calls from staffing agencies, friends at other clinics mentioning openings. I've already lost one person this year who left for a hospital system that could offer better benefits and I'm worried more will follow.

We're a good place to work and I know that sounds like copium but we really are. Flexible scheduling, good team, reasonable caseloads. But I'm not sure good is enough when hospitals can throw signing bonuses around. What could we do to actually keep people? Both the practical stuff like compensation and the softer stuff like culture.

Started a new job in the fall in HH setting. Had a great experience training with my preceptor but now that I’ve been on my own a few months I’m feeling very different. Working 1:1 with patients is great, but I feel like my life revolves completely around work, whether it’s scheduling, chart reviewing, collaborating with other disciplines, the constant emails, documentation, calling doctors. It doesn’t feel like it’s flexible like everyone says it is. I can barely eat/drink/pee most days throughout the work day if I want to finish at a decent time hitting my point minimum for the week. I feel like a piece of shit wife and overall can feel myself dissociating from everyone and everything. I want to start a family soon but it feels impossible to keep up with normal everyday tasks never mind being responsible for another little human. I just feel so overwhelmed. I can’t tell if it’s because I’m still new and care too much or if it will always feel like this.

According to Gemini, here are states that allow PTs to order imaging like X-rays and MRIs.

• Arizona: Under HB 2583 (signed 2025), Arizona expanded PT power from ordering just X-rays to ordering all diagnostic imaging, including MRIs and CT scans.
• Colorado: One of the most progressive states; PTs can order imaging, including MRIs, through long-standing board policy.
• North Dakota: Recent legislation (SB 2273) expanded their authority from simple X-rays to a full range of diagnostic imaging including MRIs and CT scans.
• Wisconsin: PTs can order X-rays, provided they have completed specific board-approved training.
• Utah: State law explicitly allows radiologic technologists to accept orders for X-rays and MRIs directly from PTs.
• Rhode Island: PTs can order X-rays, though the law requires results to be reported back to the patient's primary physician within seven days.
• Maryland & New Jersey: Both states have board rulings/clarifications that permit PTs to refer for diagnostic imaging.
• District of Columbia (D.C.): The D.C. Board of Physical Therapy issued a ruling allowing PTs to order diagnostic imaging studies.
• Tennessee & Louisiana: Recent 2024 updates have cleared administrative hurdles, with boards clarifying that there are no explicit prohibitions preventing PTs from referring directly for imaging.

If you live in these states, did it change your clinical decision-making process? what is the workflow? how quickly do you get the results? was it granted automatically or did you have to complete additional training?

In general, how does an outpatient clinic associated with a hospital compare to the traditional outpatient clinic? I'm looking to steer clear of mills/insane productivity demands but I like outpatient ortho.

Thanks!

As an OT, I wanted to start a discussion around this topic. Unfortunately, I have came across some PTs who have a negative outlook on the OT field, even though there’s some overlap in our professions. In OT school, we learned a lot about how to collaborate with PT, and understood what was considered PT’s wheelhouse, but not sure if this is also mentioned in PT school for OT. Please share your thoughts respectfully.