Any physical therapist assistants in here?

Don't do it. I'll post an email shortly and we can talk.

I know some that have gone the PTA due to cost of schooling. Pay and benefits are good but you have a ceiling on earning vs a PT. It would also depend on where you land a job. It can be fulfilling helping patients recover but sometimes you deal with the worst people on earth who are unmotivated, gripe, complain, etc. It's not always the athlete who's ready to get back in the saddle. It's some slob who'd rather die than fix themselves.

Don’t know about PTA, but my daughter is a COTA. She is good at what she does and decided to not go full OT route bc she prefers working direct with her patients vs the paperwork and insurance headaches. She works 2 PRN positions vs a full time job. For example, Ochsner doesn’t pay well, roughly low $20s per hour. It was more difficult to find full-time once graduated, they don’t tell you that entering the program. PRN pays way more for less hours. Like 2 to 4 days per month pays more than one week when she worked full-time elsewhere. Just no benefits. She’s at about $60k with both PRNs and under 30. Not bad at all, but likely won’t go much higher. Maybe PTA has more employment availability. She’s got a bachelor degree plus her COTA, so she isn’t just a 2-year student and done. Delgado was a great program. Unsure who else has one other than Delgado. ULM might as the offer the COTA program, to which she was accepted, but chose to stay home and attend Delgado’s program. Plus it’s where clinicals will be so best to be local.

To me it reminds me of dental hygienists in the old days. Not a high salary and multiple jobs to make a good living.

I have many family members who are PT or OTs. PTAs don't make any money. You'd have to go to a 3-year grad program to make any money and PT grad schools are very competitive.

I’m a PT. I’ve been one for 17 years. If you find something you like it can be fun. But it’s a job like anything else. One that has beaten up my body pretty good already in my early 40s. I’ve often wished I did something else that didn’t have such a ceiling of salary unless you’re running your own place.

PTAs get chewed up and spit out in a lot of places. Salary isn’t great for the amount of bitching and paperwork you have to put up with.

A lot of places will use a PT to supervise and overwork the shite out of the PTAs. The flip side is if you want a better environment they’re going to pay a lot less. Always a trade off.

You can usually make the most money grinding home healthy or working with very ill patients at a shitty nursing home. The second option tends to be boring or depressing as frick and the first can also be a grind.

I worked in basically every setting to pay off my loans in 2 years back in the late 2000s/early 2010s before we had kids.

Appreciate the insight from everyone, really. Pros and cons to everything, but I'm seeing what I kinda thought about. Luckily being out in the world and an adult, I'm not starry eyed to one thing. Sure I want to be happy, but I also need to make money. Not like I'm rolling in it now, but some numbers I'm seeing is about what I expected.

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There are kids who do clinical with us coming out 250-300k in debt.

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They are just retarded then. That is living high on the horse for 3 years all on debt and not even TRYING to be frugal.

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Currently in IT, and have been for 15 years. I'm starting to fricking hate coming to work.

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Everyone hates their job

If you didn’t want to go to a box every day and give most of the check to the government maybe your great great great paw paw should’ve fought the Yankees harder

PTs do pretty well.
Source: My Wife ( no pics)