The History of Physical Therapy and How to Find them Today: Origin story and Current Settings

Learn how Physical Therapy began and what settings you can find Physical Therapists in today

What is Physical Therapy?

Physical Therapy or Physiotherapy (often in England, Canada, Australia, etc.): What is it? The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) defines Physical Therapists as “licensed doctors who work with multiple patient populations impacted by disease, injury, and movement dysfunction.” They optimize quality of life by maintaining, restoring, and improving patient’s ability to move, function, and live more active lifestyle¹

How Did Physical Therapy Begin?

Origin Story: Physical Therapy began in 1921. At first, it was female-only profession serving to assist injured patients on the battlefield of World War I. Overtime, the profession expanded to how it is now known today.¹

Where are Physical Therapists today?

A doctor? The current entry level program for Physical Therapists is a 3-year post-grad program called “Doctorate of Physical Therapy”. However, there are still many Bachelor’s and Master’s level PT’s practicing today that have decades of experience, but went to school before the current doctoral track. Some of them do find it helpful to get a “transitional DPT”, but others focus on other routes of continuing education and gaining experience. Also, there is a PT PHD program many professors will seek as they continue to advance the research required at many academic institutions. So, no, PT’s are not MD’s or DO’s, but they still may use the title of Dr.

What does PT help with? SO MANY THINGS. The possibilities are endless when it comes to Physical Therapy and the specialties that come with it. Physical therapists are found in several different settings and working with several different populations of healthcare including:

Settings

• Outpatient: post-operation patients, pain with movements, overuse and work-related injuries
• Inpatient
  • Acute care: Traditional hospital setting, working on planning discharge and ADL’s
  • Inpatient Rehab: post-hospital stays, working on recovering further and gaining independence for patients that need increased time before returning home. These programs are intense and include 3 hours a day of combined Physical, Occupational, and Speech therapy
  • Skilled Nursing Facility: longer-term, post-hospital stays, working on basic ADL skills and rehabilitation in patients that cannot handle the 3 hours/day of a rehab hospital (described above)

Patient populations and Specialties

• General Population: anyone and everyone with an injury or overuse-related pain.
• Pediatrics: kids from birth-18 (can be in a wide array of settings: NICU, outpatient, inpatient rehab, schools, etc)
• Geriatrics: typically refers to patients 60 years and older, both with Neurological and Orthopedic conditions
• Sport: working with Athletic teams to prevent and rehab injury
• Pelvic Health: “using Physical therapy techniques to treat the muscles of the pelvic floor creating core stability and control over urination, bowel movements and sexual function”²
• Neurological: “treatment of movement disorders and physical symptoms that arise due to a brain or nerve problem.”³ Common symptoms include: balance problems, increased muscle stiffness, decreased muscle strength or tone, lost sensation or muscle power, sensation of tingling or pins and needles, tremors
• Orthopedic: seeks to treat “injuries or disorders of bones, muscles, joints, and ligaments”.⁴ Also known as the musculoskeletal system.

Citations:

1. (American Physical Therapy Association. APTA. (n.d.). https://www.apta.org/)
2. Kristen Gasnick, P. (2023, September 1). What is Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy?. Verywell Health. https://www.verywellhealth.com/pelvic-floor-physical-therapy-5189474
3. (PT), Dr. A. S. (2022, November 1). What’s neurological physiotherapy? scope, treatment, exercises. Healing With PT. https://healingwithpt.com/things-you-should-know/whats-neurological-physiotherapy-scope-treatment-exercises/
4. Moore, C. (2024, August 29). Orthopedic physical therapy: What it is and how it works. Continuous Motion Physical Therapy – Physical Therapy. https://continuousmotionpt.com/orthopedic-physical-therapy-what-it-is-and-how-it-works/