Hello,

I'm a 27 year old male doing fiber optic sales. My work is not personally rewarding and I beginning to believe more and more that physical therapy is where I should be. So I feel I am at somewhat of a crossroads in my life, yet again. But this time, it seems that the decision I must make will have more serious implications than ever before. I am at the age where I want to really focus and commit my best energies into my work. At the end of the day, I want to feel good about what I do.

It would not be fair to say that I hate what I do now. I don't. I also know that if I choose to pursue fiber optics, that I would probably be well compensated financially after my career has developed. But at 27, I am idealistic to believe that if I do not feel passionate about my work so early in my career, it is a bad sign.

Business is not in my blood. I feel there is no harmony between my true character and my work. I have always wanted to be a healer, and the act of helping feels very natural to me. I dream of work where a patient would come to me in pain, and leave with some of that pain
relieved, or at least with a glimmer of hope that good health is just around the corner. With physical therapy, I am hoping to find that kind of harmony.

My ideas about physical therapists may be a little naïve... this is why I am contacting you, to find out from actual practicing physical therapists the daily challenges and triumphs of their jobs. If I do decide to pursue this path, I would do so at the cost of two years of full time schooling. In addition, I would also be essentially walking
away from a very promising career in fiber optics. But if the work is what I believe it to be, I would not hesitate in taking the plunge.

So what exactly does a physical therapist do? Am I correct in believing:

15% massage work
15% working with special PT machines
40% consultation, advice
20% rehab exercises & stretches
10% admin, reporting, professional development

So implicit to the above, most of the true working time, a PT is with a patient, acting somewhat like a combination of a doctor, nurse, coach, and masseur, and psychologist.

Patients are a mix of elderly, post-trauma (eg car accidents), handicapped, post-operational, and "regular" people with day to day ailments such as poor posture or sports injuries.

Do I have the right ideas? Am I dreaming? Am I somewhere in the middle? The last thing I want to do is graduate with degree in hand, ready to work, to discover that my ideas about the work and the actual reality of the work are completely different.

I would be grateful for your help. If it is any consolation, I can offer you a great discount on fiber optic products in exchange for you info...

Searching for knowledge,
Adrian