How To Become A Chief Physical Therapist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a chief physical therapist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted Expert

Ron Precht

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a chief physical therapist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $35.3 an hour? That's $73,429 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 17% and produce 40,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Chief Physical Therapist?

Ron Precht

Senior Manager, American Massage Therapy Association

Generally, metropolitan areas have had more openings for massage therapists. This is a report from the end of 2019 that has the most recent data we have available. Report

ScoreChief Physical TherapistUS Average

Salary

5.7

Avg. Salary $73,429

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.2

Growth Rate 17%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.47%

Asian 15.85%

Black or African American 3.38%

Hispanic or Latino 6.94%

Unknown 3.67%

White 69.70%

Gender

female 43.51%

male 56.49%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress Level

8.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.7

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Newest jobs for Chief Physical Therapist in Columbus, OH

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Key steps to become a chief physical therapist

Explore chief physical therapist education requirements

Most common chief physical therapist degrees

Bachelor's

79.8 %

Master's

12.1 %

Doctorate

6.5 %

Start to develop specific chief physical therapist skills

Skills	Percentages
Physical Therapy	20.05%
Rehabilitation	19.48%
Occupational Therapy	17.49%
Patients	14.19%
Physical Therapy Treatment	12.24%

Complete relevant chief physical therapist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New chief physical therapists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a chief physical therapist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real chief physical therapist resumes.

Research chief physical therapist duties and responsibilities

Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Request appropriate casts, splints, and or braces.
Evaluate, develop, administer and supervise the treatment of orthopedic patients.
Provide regular free seminars to the primary caregivers of pediatric patients with physical disabilities.

Prepare your chief physical therapist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your chief physical therapist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a chief physical therapist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Chief Physical Therapist Resume templates

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Apply for chief physical therapist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a chief physical therapist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do chief physical therapists rate their job?