By Janice Sorensen
When BYU student Becky Connolly suffered an injury as a swimmer in high school, the inflamed tendons in her shoulder prevented her from swimming for almost two weeks. After two months of physical therapy, however, Connolly was able to use her shoulder normally and became interested in the mechanics behind rehabilitating athletes.
Connolly, a junior from Lafayette, Ind., said she has always been interested in injuries. Now, as an athletic training major, she is one of many BYU students interested in entering one of today''s most popular careers: physical therapy.
CareerJournal.com recently conducted a survey listing physical therapy, a health field involving the treatment of disease through physical and mechanical means, among the top eight careers.
CareerJournal.com, the Wall Street Journal executive Web site, worked with the polling company Harris Interactive in the July 11 survey of full-time working adults in the United States to determine what factors contributed to a satisfying job.
'Most people like physical therapy because it is hands-on,' said Dr. Brent Feland, an associate professor of exercise science and the faculty advisor for BYU''s physical therapy club. 'It''s not just looking at a patient and telling them to get treated. We are the ones who actually treat them.'
Respondents to the CareerJournal survey were asked to identify qualities they associated with their jobs. Those who were highly satisfied with their jobs listed good intellectual stimulation, strong job security, a high level of control and freedom, and extensive contact with customers/clients as the top four qualities they enjoyed in their jobs.
The length and intensity of different physical therapy treatments allow practitioners some autonomy in treating injuries and provide extensive contact with their patients as well, Feland said.
'You could be treating a patient for weeks or even months,' he said. 'You really get integrated with the family and a lot of people find that very rewarding.'
Feland said more and more students at BYU choose to pursue a physical therapy career each year. While there is no major specifically tailored to physical therapy, many exercise science students go into physical therapy after graduation. Of the nearly 1,200 exercise science students currently at BYU, about one-third are interested in a physical therapy career, said Feland.
Connolly said athletic trainers use sports-specific physical therapy to strengthen the affected muscles and prevent re-injury. They work in tandem with physical therapists, taking over treatment of athletes after the athletes have completed their physical therapy.
'In physical therapy, you sometimes start with the most basic things to bring the muscles back to normal,' Connolly said. 'In sports training we reinforce that with different exercises and treatments to prevent re-injury based on the athlete''s specific needs.'
While athletic trainers work only with athletes using some physical therapy to build upon physical therapists'' treatment, physical therapists see many different types of injuries in their practice. Physical therapists work to return the muscles and tendons back to their normal function, after which athletic trainers work to keep muscles strong enough to prevent injuries from re-occurring.
Feland said sports injuries tend to involve musculoskeletal problems like ankle sprains, ACL tears and back pain.
Megan Cramer, a senior from Olympia, Wash., understands all too well the importance of physical therapy after an injury. While going for a catch during an ultimate Frisbee game in high school, Cramer tore her meniscus.
'My body went one way, and my leg went the other,' said Cramer, a P.E. teaching major. 'I heard a pop, but I caught the Frisbee,'
Cramer sought the help of doctors so she could return to playing basketball for her high school. The first orthopedic surgeon she consulted told Cramer she would not be playing that fall.
However, riding the stationary bike and lifting weights in physical therapy strengthened Cramer''s knee and enabled her to return to playing basketball much sooner than would have otherwise been possible. Despite her doctor''s initial diagnosis, Cramer was able to play basketball with her team in December after her November injury.
'I got back pretty quickly,' Cramer said. 'If I had gone back to playing basketball right away, I probably would have re-injured it. But following the doctor''s council, I strengthened my knee enough to be able to play.'
Apart from athletic injuries, physical therapists also work with stroke victims and those with joint replacements, helping patients function normally so they may return home, Feland said. Physical therapists help to rehabilitate those with neurological injuries on a more in-depth level.
'With neurologic rehabilitation, you see a lot of traumatic brain injuries - severe strokes, spinal cord injuries and amputees,' he said. 'The physical therapists are trying to teach them to deal with the injury they have and teach them to walk again, get into a chair or put their prosthetic onto their limb. There are so many different areas in physical therapy, and that is another reason it is so alluring.'