How to become a physical therapist reddit

I've contemplated for a long time and just need to decide. There's some parts I think I'd like. But I'm already in $50k+ of debt, and I'm nervous about the salary coming out. I don't want to be a money chaser per sè but I want to be secure, and not live in a shitty apartment till I'm 40 (I live in an expensive region). I'm outgoing and love talking to patients, but I also value my free time and enjoy socializing when it isn't related to work. I'm afraid I'll be too tired to exercise or socialize after work and just become a hermit, based on other things I've read on this thread.

I also am nervous about insurance reimbursement as it changes over time and becomes less; I worked at a clinic where they had 4-5 patients per hour per provider, and used tons of outdated modalities on every single patient, and gave average of 5 minutes to the patient. Could've truly been poor practice, but they also took a lot of state insurance patients which reimburses so low. This makes me nervous as I swore I'd never be a PT that just gave outdated modalities to all my patients and hardly give time but bill them for it anyways.

I also love teaching anatomy and etiology to people, but it seems like most people just see a lot of old people that don't care. I do like old people generally and find them fun to talk to, and they appreciate the social interactions which I love. But I'd hate to learn so much only to never use it.

I'm really tore up about it because I thought for a long time I'd do and I feel like I've been stalling because I can't decide.

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basically this. A bachelor's degree in those listed above will get most of your prerequisites

Just make sure you meet the requirements to the specific schools you want to apply to as well (once you're ready.) Most have some differences regarding the prerequisites.

It's good to have volunteer experience, both with the community (soup kitchens, etc) and with PT specific opportunities like with hospitals/out patient clinics. Make sure to look at the APTA core values and try to structure your life around those ideals for the next few years as the applications for schools tend to ask a lot about them and what you've done to enrich them.

The return on investment was very disappointing in terms of starting pay vs grad school debt. Honestly, I think it was a poor financial decision on my part, and if I could go back in time, I would have pursued another option. I did not have my parents paying for my grad schooling, like some of my classmates.

I got sick of documenting and micro managing of the documentation. Seeing my peers clock out and work for free in order to meet productivity levels, in order to please the boss man, and feeling pressured to follow suit drove me crazy.

There were days I was a masseuse. Giving 20 minute soft tissue work while trying to keep patient comfortable and entertained was pure drudgery.

And the other PTs. Many were crazy Type A personalities who were hard to work with. Many were weird, overly ambitious, fake people who could not be trusted.

Moreover, I saw a trend in PT to make treatments seem mysterious and complicated to help convince patients that it was effective

Graduated in 2009 with a degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and IT. I worked on Wall Street for two years supporting the financial database and architecture which was an okay job, I wasn't happy with it, but I wasn't totally sad with it. My two bosses really helped, they were super cool. I started working at a gym part time teaching fitness classes because my hobby is fitness. I love working out and throughout my time there teaching classes, I found out I loved helping people and seeing their transformations. It was way more rewarding than working at a bank.

Fast forward to 2011, been laid off for 6 months now, and basically I'm at a crossroads in life. Girlfriend broke up with me 4 months ago, no job, live at home with the parents, but now I'm trying to think if it's worth it to go back to school to become a physical therapist. The only thing is I would take on more debt than what I already have, then it would probably take another 5-6 years to get a doctorate. I'll be 30 years old by then!

Are there any fast track physical therapy schools that I could go to that would mean completing in like 3 years? Of course I would take on a lot of classes each semester. But is it worth it as well? Also my parents would kill me, since my dad paid for half my undergrad, but they wouldn't pay again and they would also be pissed that I'm totally changing careers/path of my life.

Any ideas reddit?

TL;DR got laid off 6 months ago, love teaching fitness classes, is it worth going back to school to become a physical therapist

What is the easiest PT school to get into?

What is the hardest part of being a physical therapist?

What field of physical therapy pays the most?