Do I Regret Becoming a Physical Therapist?

It's one of the best questions to ask a PT: "If you could do it all over, would you go into Physical Therapy or a different field?" Here's my take on that answer and insight as to whether or not I regret going into Physical Therapy.

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[nickgonng]

I really appreciate how honest and sincere your videos are especially about the financial side of it! I feel like your finance background gives you an even better and realistic view of it lol

[gustavovazquez]

For the 2019-20 cycle I got accepted into two private schools after retaking SIX GEs. So overall, I have spent 9 years in undergrad all leading up to this point in time. After calculating all my expenses and undergrad loans, I would be looking at either 240k or 200k straight out of PT school. Deciding not to go to PT school due to the debt has been the most humbling, yet challenging decision of my life to date. I simply didn't and couldn't be, "another brick in the wall." Yes, the profession is incredibly rewarding at times, but I see my quality of life being severely impaired for many years to come due to the loan alone. I have instead decided to dedicate my time in sales and so far, it seems to be panning out. The skills I have learned from being a PT aide have made me a caring salesman. I do not regret my journey one bit, and this decision simply feels like I am ending one long chapter in my life and starting a new one! Thank you for your videos man! They truly have been helpfully and keep up the good work.

[anahi]

I’m 17 y/o and I’m still not sure what I want to do with my life, but I’m considering studying physical therapy even thought that debt is a real turn off but I think that goes for most healthcare careers.

[nebulous]

Setting is everything. Private clinics burned me out & made me bitter. Too much office politics & too much pressure to compromise quality of care. Home health allows me to spend so much more one-on-one time with the patient & have so much more freedom & flexibility. I enjoy what I do so much more now & am happier & healthier.

[diontemcdaniel]

Respect Tim! Thank you so much for your transparency. I really value what you said about not being so quick to call something a regret but rather having those experiences to shape the work that you will being doing; even if its not quite what we had in mind. Appreciate you videos man. Thanks again.

[ethanbates]

Definitely don't want to work as a DPT in an ortho patient mill, but I actually enjoy being an aide in that setting because of the time I get to spend with the patients (more than the PT lol)

[mosdef]

Damn I just want to become one first lol

[nectar]

Tim, thank you for all your continued input with these videos, they've been super helpful!

[thomasgassner]

Hey Tim, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your authenticity and honesty about the profession - something I see few and far between. PT is a sacred profession, but like every profession, it's not a perfect one. It takes virtuous therapists like yourself to keep therapy headed in the right direction. Many of the issues you address are being grossly overlooked by undergrads and sheltered by universities. I was amazed to learn the debt/income ratio for PT"s and how increasingly difficult it is for PT's to stay afloat (if they incur average private school debt).


It can become easy for someone to watch your videos and list the countless reasons NOT to become a PT, perhaps some more uploads on uplifting stories or patient experiences that shaped the therapist you are today? Or how certain therapists have been financially savvy and live an extremely comfortable life while doing the work they love? You've done an amazing job at articulating undesirable approaches to this profession, I would love to see some content from the flip side.


As always, thanks for the video and keep killing it!

[cm.e.]

My instructor is an a
a and p teacher now. He is a PT . He said it was boring seeing people doing exercises. So he is happy at a college as a professor . He left it as soon as he practiced. No longer practices!

[timmyparas]

I'm 33 and will be entering the program this year. Gave it years of thought, felt I was a bit too late to do it (have an arts degree), but choosing to do it now before I regret it. Thanks for the info!

[milenatarnawska]

I study in London and your student loan system sounds crazy comparing to the one over here

[maiLen]

I’m currently in school for accounting and looking into PT 😅 funny how similar our experience is, thank you for the info!!

[maxrecknagel]

Great wisdom on this Tim, thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[kathleenklein]

I have a PT for 35 years. I am 58 years old and my body is done. I have arthritis in my feet ( I was a ballet dancer when I was young), arthritis in my dominant side thumb, pain in my thoracic spine toward the end of the day, I sometimes take home 2+ hours a day of paperwork. I have no time to exercise anymore. We have no lunch time allowed at all, so I just pray for a cancellation or a no show. On top of that, I have an aging mother that lives a few blocks away in an assisted living and I am going over there at least one time per week. I became a CHT in 2023 which made it easier on my feet, but on work days I take NSAIDS. I have decided to leave and become a medical coder with a specialty in orthopedics and work from home. It is less money, but my body has had it. I feel sorry for the younger people. Your college debt is unreal. When I went, I had only paid for my room and board. I had a scholarship. My parents paid for my room and board. The hospital paid for me to get my Master's when I was 28.

[Martinphysioperformance]

Hey tim! I’ve just binged watched about 5-6 of your videos and I love your entrepreneur mindset while still being a physical therapist! I just got enrolled into a masters program as a physiotherapist here in Canada and I would love for you to message me if you can so I can ask you some questions! Keep it up!

[MovewithMarcia]

Great question, depends on the day! And hindsight is 20/20. In my area there are so few pediatric physiatrists and so few P&O offices that provide quality care. I could see myself in either of those fields. But I didn't really know about either before school.

[donnelly]

If I could make one times the amount of my student loan debt, I'd be very content. The problem is I'd need to make 100k annually. Having graduated with my masters in exercise science in 2017, I've yet make anything more than 28k annually. Moral of the story, if one is going to be a PT, OT, or PA, skip the generic masters in exercise science degree, it may not get you very far. I learned the very hard way.

[gifgt]

The few times I went into an outpatient PT setting, I saw the physical therapists running around in a hyper state. I'm sure they are on a tight schedule but I don't want to step into a healthcare where your running around like crazy. I did that that working in pharmacy and it was the worst job ever. Hotbox, stressed out environment. Rushing to eat. Horrible.

[stoiccrane]

That's the problems with schools. It's really their responsibility to help prospective students get exposure to different career fields to better determine a career path for themselves. Instead, it just commodifies the learning process and churns out employee drones like a factory. How is a kid supposed to know what they want to do as a profession if they never really had much exposure to any?