Careers in physical therapy research are potentially rewarding for practicing physical therapists who enjoy both the theory and practice of the profession. You will need to have your bachelor's degree and a physical therapist certification to be considered for a serious research position at a university or research center. In most cases, you will also need to have at least begun work on your master's degree in physical therapy to work in serious research programs.
Instructions
1. Consider joining the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). APTA provides funding, publishes and promotes many physical therapy studies conducted at universities and research centers around the country. The APTA Section on Research promotes physical therapy research and helps create guidelines informed by new research for clinical practitioners.
2. Enroll in a graduate program for physical therapy if you have not done so already. Once you are a graduate student in physical therapy, look into research opportunities among professors and officials in the physical therapy department. You may be able to sign up for research internships directly through your course catalog.
3. Conduct your own research either for class credit or as a part of your graduate thesis. Apply for funding from your university for clinical studies and any other research initiatives that may require outside support. Consider applying for grants and scholarships to fund your research from educational or medical research foundations and your local, state and federal government.
4. Research local private hospitals in your area that may be recruiting physical therapists for research positions that offer student loan forgiveness as a hiring perk. Many private hospitals are granted access to loan forgiveness programs through the National Institute of Health in exchange for running medical research programs.
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