Does having an certification on physical therapy aid increase your salary?

Does anyone knows about physical therapy aid jobs & salary in california?

• Answer:

  The availability of aide/technician jobs varies quite a bit and is likely influenced on state laws regarding aides. In the state of California, like many other states, the treating PT has to be in the immediate and direct line of supervision. Therefore, at that point, it somewhat becomes pointless to use an aide for patient related tasks. In states where aides can be used a little more liberally, I would assume that aide jobs would be a little more common. IL is much like CA...aides are very infrequently used here because they can't do much anyway...according to state laws. So, they often end up doing non-patient related tasks: various clerical and housekeeping tasks and usually only used for patient related tasks when the therapist is immediately there (such as following a patient who is walking with a wheelchair). I work in a very large rehab department. Between PT, OT, and speech, inpatient, outpatient, day rehab, etc we are a staff of over 100 people. We have only 3 aides throughout the entire system. So job availability is an issue. As far as salary, they typically make a little bit more than the minimum wage. It's often a job done by college students who are hoping to go to PT or PTA school.