Online Physical Therapy Programs

Learn the skills you need to become a Physical Therapy Aide at home, at your own pace with Penn Foster. The Penn Foster Physical Therapy Aide Program can help you make a difference – your abilities can help patients recover from their injuries and return to their active lives! Train quickly and conveniently. Cover these topics and more:

• Common physical disorders.
• Physical therapy treatments.
• Exercise and mobility training.

And you’ll learn it all at home with no classroom needed! You’ll get valuable information about physical therapy aide training issues from lifting techniques to environmental safety, plus a clinical work experience option.

Why take this program? With the right credentials, you can:

• Be an important part of a professional physical therapy staff.
• Work at a hospital, physical therapy office, personal care facility, or with a home health agency.

Demand for professionals will rise 46% by 2012.* As the population of middle-aged and elderly people grows, so does the demand for therapeutic services. That means more opportunity for you!

We’ll send you FREE information – with absolutely no obligation! Find out more about physical therapy aide education that includes:

• All the books, lessons, equipment, and learning aids you need.
• Special charts and videos to demonstrate therapeutic procedures.
• Toll-free instructional support.
• Access to student services by website, phone, and mail.

Helping others in need is what is required as a physical therapy aid. In this course from Ashworth University you’ll learn the history and evolution of the industry as well as the history of therapeutic health care services. You’ll understand the medical ethics of medical law and the health care worker. 

You’ll learn medical terminology including prefixes, suffixes and root words. In the anatomy and physiology and musculoskeletal system section of the course you’ll learn the framework of the human body.  Using physical therapy to treat common disorders is a very important aspect of the course. You’ll read about how to treat arthritis, using massage, treating lower back pain or sprains.

Physical therapy aides work under the supervision of physical therapist, so their duties may vary.

Specific tasks may include:

• Ensuring that equipment is ready and supplies are on hand
• Assisting the doctor during treatment
• Cleaning the exam room after treatment
• Filing medical reports in patient charts
• Contacting insurance companies to verify information
• Greeting patients when they arrive
• Escorting them back to the exam room or treatment area
• Positioning patients on the exam table
• Listening to and directing patient concerns

Online LPN/LVN to BSN Program
This new degree is the only completely distance-based RN training program in the country. LPNs and LVNs can earn their NLNAC-accredited Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree without ever stepping foot in a classroom.

Online RN to BSN Program
This NLNAC-accredited RN to BSN program is for those individuals who hold an associate's degree in nursing, and it requires a total of up to 128 credit hours. Approximately 30 hours of lower-division nursing course requirements can be satisfied through an RN articulation program. Use The College Network's comprehensive learning materials to pass proficiency exams (CLEP, Prometric, DANTES) and earn your general education and elective college credits (up to 67 credit hours). Complete your upper-level nursing courses (generally 30 credit hours) online with Indiana State University.

Physical Therapist Assistants and Aids - Online Physical Therapy Programs

Physical therapist assistants and aides perform components of physical therapy procedures and related tasks selected by a supervising physical therapist. These workers assist physical therapists in providing services that help improve mobility, relieve pain, and prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities of patients suffering from injuries or disease. Patients include accident victims and individuals with disabling conditions such as low-back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries, and cerebral palsy.

Physical therapist assistants perform a variety of tasks. Components of treatment procedures performed by these workers, under the direction and supervision of physical therapists, involve exercises, massages, electrical stimulation, paraffin baths, hot and cold packs, traction, and ultrasound. Physical therapist assistants record the patient’s responses to treatment and report the outcome of each treatment to the physical therapist. Find online physical therapy programs and get started with your new and exciting career.

Physical therapist aides help make therapy sessions productive, under the direct supervision of a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant. They usually are responsible for keeping the treatment area clean and organized and for preparing for each patient’s therapy. When patients need assistance moving to or from a treatment area, aides push them in a wheelchair or provide them with a shoulder to lean on. Because they are not licensed, aides do not perform the clinical tasks of a physical therapist assistant.

The duties of aides include some clerical tasks, such as ordering depleted supplies, answering the phone, and filling out insurance forms and other paperwork. The extent to which an aide or an assistant performs clerical tasks depends on the size and location of the facility.

*Salary information is based on the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a publication of the U.S. Department of Labor.

**Growth figures represent a ten-year period ending 2012. Source: National Industry-Occupation Employment Matrix, a publication of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Individual student earnings vary. You can find colleges with physical therapy programs listed on other pages of this website.