Editor's Notes: Physical therapy students have bright futures

Leslie Taylor thought she wanted to be a doctor, but a job transporting patients to physical therapy sessions at Northside Hospital in Atlanta changed her mind.

“It gave me a lot of time to see what physical therapists did, and the relationships they formed with their patients and clients,” said Taylor, PT, Ph.D., a physical therapist for 28 years.

Taylor is a professor and director of Georgia’s newest doctor of physical therapy program at Mercer University in Atlanta. She can’t wait to introduce her inaugural class to what she calls “an amazing field filled with opportunities.”

Based on salary, job satisfaction and demand, physical therapy ranked fourth in CNN Money Magazine’s 2010 list of top 100 jobs in the nation. Good pay and job security are attractive — especially in today’s tight job market.

But in talking to Taylor and her students one thing became clear; people are attracted to this profession for lots of reasons, most of which seem to fall into the category of job satisfaction.

After Jennifer McGuffey graduated from the University of Georgia with an English degree, she was headed for a master’s degree in education. Then she had two surgeries in 2006: shoulder surgery after a rugby injury and the rebuilding of her hand after a kitchen accident.

“Both times I had such really good physical therapy experiences that I decided to switch fields,” McGuffey said. “I realized that physical therapy is a form of teaching.”

Ashley Marchman thought she was afraid to work with children, but a college internship at a physical therapy pediatric clinic convinced her otherwise.

“It was full emersion and I fell in love,” she said.

Constance Foster went to college as a premed student, but soon realized she didn’t like the world of doctors and hospitals.

“What I love about physical therapy is that you can heal someone naturally, and you get to know your patients while helping them. You develop relationships,” Foster said.

Brittani Scott came from a family of health care workers and wanted the hands-on caregiving of physical therapy.

“What was unique about this program was its focus on community service. That was important to me,” Scott said.

William Duncan first got a taste for physical therapy as a personal trainer. For his first-semester service project, he did health promotion and wellness education for the staff and clients at Good Samaritan Health Center in Atlanta.

“I could see how much I was helping people,” Duncan said.

Willie Beavers wants to use his undergraduate biomedical engineering degree and his physical therapy training to perform research in diagnostic equipment and build evidence-based interventions for patients.

Watching hands-on healing impressed Manuel Garcia.