What setting do you think you want to work in?

These words have haunted me since the beginning of physical therapy school. As soon as people find out that I'm in school to become a physical therapist the very next question is almost always, "What setting do you think you want to work in?" For the longest time I had no idea. At this point in my PT school career I've successfully completed 3 internships. Two of those were in the outpatient orthopedic setting and the most recent one I've completed was in a skilled nursing facility. Now I can honestly say that I think I may have an idea about where I want to practice and that is in the skilled nursing setting (a.k.a. SNF).

I thought I'd use this time to list all of the different settings that I'm aware of that physical therapists can work. I think my readers may be surprised to see that physical therapists really are EVERYWHERE in the healthcare setting!

• Acute care settings in hosptials
• Outpatient clinics
• Subacute rehab facilities
• Schools
• Nursing homes
• Assisted living facilities
• Pediatric settings
• Health and wellness centers

Whew, now can't you see why I didn't really have it narrowed down? In addition to these listed there are several areas where PT's can be found.

Now I'd like to share why I enjoyed the SNF environment as much as I did:

• More one on one time with the patient
• Smaller caseload
• Intimate relationships are formed with other therapeutic disciplines like occupational and speech therapy that helps you to better treat the "whole" patient
• Working with the geriatric population is enlightening and entertaining
• You can really see success with the patients in terms of gaining their functional mobility back

So as of right now, I'm leaning towards the SNF setting for where I would like to start my PT career at the beginning of the upcoming year. Now all I have to do is get some studying done and pass the boards...gulp