So, we’ll start off. I’m Sergeant Arnold. I’ve been in the Air Force for 18 years, and right now we’re located in Burlington, Massachusetts. We are your physical therapist Air Force recruiters.
That’s correct. And I’m Master Sergeant Branham. I’ve been in the Air Force going on 20 years. As mentioned, we are located in Burlington, Massachusetts.
We also have a couple of guests with us today. We have Captain Giles, who is a physical therapist in the Air Force, active duty, and Major Buss.
Yeah, so we appreciate you guys logging in and helping us out with this briefing.
Alright, so for today’s agenda, we’re going to be going over some eligibility requirements. We’re going to talk about the DPT position and give you a brief description about that, talk about some of the advantages of being a DPT in the Air Force, training and professional growth, as well as regular Air Force benefits, the next steps if you decide this is something that you want to do, and then we’re going to answer any questions that you may have.
So, eligibility requirements for DPT in the Air Force are:
- You have to pass the military physical.
- You also have to have an entry-level Doctorate of Physical Therapy.
- You must be a U.S. citizen.
- Be commissioned as an officer by the age of 42.
- And lastly, have a current unrestricted physical therapy license prior to entering active duty.
Alright, so per our program announcement, here is the position description for a DPT in the Air Force:
Air Force physical therapists are actively involved in injury prevention, injury management, rehabilitation, and human performance optimization throughout a variety of clinical and operational environments. They manage physical therapy clinics and programs in diverse settings with a focus on orthopedic and sports physical therapy practice. Clinical duties include evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and management of musculoskeletal conditions that may impair movement or function. Physical therapist services are provided by direct access and referral.
Air Force physical therapists have the ability to order diagnostic imaging, laboratory studies, selective medications, and consults or refer to other specialists. They plan and administer treatment programs designed to quickly restore the patient’s function, relieve pain, and prevent disease and injury. Air Force PTs may develop and implement medical teaching and research programs. They may provide ergonomic services, wellness activities, screening and promotion of healthy lifestyles, acute wound management, concussion management, and serve as musculoskeletal consultants for other healthcare professionals.
Air Force physical therapists are stationed throughout the world, deploy for expeditionary operations, and support humanitarian missions. They may work in traditional clinical settings or be embedded in special warfare units, flying squadrons, or other operational units.
Alright, awesome. So, Captain Giles or Major Buss, do you guys have anything to add to the position title for DPT, or did we basically hit everything?
I guess, um, this is Cap and Buss. I pin on Major in about a month, but thank you. I just wanted to, I guess it’s in here, but I just wanted to reiterate that the physical therapy role in the military is a little bit more extensive. The deployment that’s listed in the position description, and also that health and wellness and those ergonomic services, that is something that you might not typically see in the civilian world in all cases, but it is something that we do a lot of in active duty. So, I think it’s well captured here, but just note that it’s more than just the words on the paper. We actually do all those extra things as well.
Awesome, thank you.
Cool. So, some of the advantages to being a DPT in the Air Force:
You’ll be able to practice physical therapy at a level beyond your civilian counterparts with privileges to order diagnostic imaging, prescribe basic pharmaceuticals, and refer patients directly to specialty clinics. You’ll also be able to provide care for a highly diverse population of airmen and their families and will have access to a vast consultation network of physicians, operational therapists, and other healthcare professionals.
Along with planning, developing, and managing physical therapy programs and activities, you may be called upon to develop and implement teaching and research programs. You may also serve as a liaison between the Air Force, civilian, and governmental agencies involved with physical therapy programs.
Some more advantages to being a DPT in the Air Force:
So, uh, the Air Force has distinct advantages over civilian practice. You’ll see patients based on their needs and not their ability to pay. Along with no malpractice insurance to worry about, you won’t have to deal with overhead expenses or red tape associated with regular HMOs. You may also have opportunities to participate in humanitarian missions around the world. As mentioned, these opportunities not only enhance your career, they enrich your life with experiences that are unmatched in civilian practice. So, as far as, uh, DPTs on the line, do you guys have anything to add to those advantages?
Yes, Captain Johnson. I would love to just kind of reiterate the fact that we’re not run by insurance. So, when I was a civilian PT, I had to obviously obey sort of the insurance rules and kind of take what the patient might have in their bank. So, let’s say they only had eight visits. I had to kind of make my treatment plan around those eight visits or hopefully not use all eight visits. And now, the sky’s the limit. So, I don’t discharge patients anymore. I encourage them, like, “Hey, we got over this ailment right now, but continue to use us. Let’s do gait analysis, let’s look at your squat form, let’s do some preventative stuff. You don’t always have to come to us when you’re hurt. We’re here for you in health and in sickness.”
That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Thanks for that input. This is Captain Bus. I’ll follow on and just say another big advantage, going along with that insurance piece, is the true ability to have direct access. Again, in the civilian model, I could do direct access with some of my patients based on their insurance, but some of them I couldn’t. In the military model, anyone can walk up and see us directly, and I don’t have to figure out, you know, can I do that? Do I have to have a referral from a doctor? I can treat them on the spot when they’re ready to be treated and get that care to them a little bit quicker. So, a lot of that stuff isn’t really a worry. The constant phone calls that I did on the civilian side, I don’t see that in the military side, which is a benefit and allows me to focus on the patient even more.
Awesome. That’s great. Yeah. I mean, even from the patient perspective, I know whenever I messed my back up, it was very, very nice for my doctor to be able to actually hand walk me back to the DPTs and have them show me how to properly stretch and do what I had to do to relieve that pain. So anyway, moving on.
Alright, so training as an Air Force DPT: As an Air Force physical therapist, you’ll be a member of the Biomedical Sciences Corps and also be a highly respected member of one of the world’s premier healthcare teams. You’ll enter active duty with the rank of captain and attend a five-week Commissioned Officer Training program at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
Can I interject on that real quick?
Yes, you can.
So, it is no longer five weeks. It is the full nine-week OTS program. So you’re going to go through the full nine weeks with the rest of the trainees. It used to be a five-week, sort of abbreviated COTS program that they used to call it, but they’re starting to bring all the specialties, even doctors, lawyers, and chaplains, through the full nine-week course now.
Okay, well, that’s good to know. Thanks for the heads-up.
Yeah, thank you.
Alright, so professional growth in the Air Force as a DPT:
The Air Force will give you the tools and training needed to succeed in your career. You’ll achieve professional growth and development through leadership experiences, OJT, and continuing education to help keep you current in your field or become an advanced specialist. We’ll pay for your specialty board certification along with professional seminars or conferences. You’ll never have to worry about losing income or arranging for someone to care for your patients while you’re away.
You guys don’t want to elaborate on that at all?
So not only will they pay for your board certification if you become something like an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist or Sports Clinical Specialist, you’ll also get an extra $500 a month. So that’s a kind of a kick in pay at six thousand dollars a year just to get your board certification. So that’s another nice perk, and I have yet to pay for any continuing education out of pocket.
Yep, and just as a follow-on, in civilian practice, the board certification rates run about 10%. So about 10% of physical therapists will have a board certification. I don’t know the exact number in the military, but anecdotally, just kind of looking at my peer group, it’s probably more along the lines of 50%. So that board certification is highly valued, and again, like Captain Giles said, they’ll pay for it, and then they’ll pay you once you have it. There’s also a distance military residency program that you can do when you come in the military. So again, it’s all distance; you do it with a board-certified instructor if you have one in your clinic, and then you go to kind of a capstone course. So that’s also an option, and again, it’s paid for, and you’re also earning full pay while you do it, so that’s kind of nice as well.
Alright, so just some of the benefits of becoming a DPT in the Air Force or being in the Air Force in general:
We have an excellent starting salary with regular pay raises and promotions, 30 days of paid vacation each year, continuing education opportunities, tax-free housing and food allowances, comprehensive medical and dental benefits, opportunities to live, work, and travel worldwide, and we also have a generous retirement program.
Alright, so if this is something you decide you want to do, here are the next steps:
First of all, we’re going to have to complete your initial appointment. Just send us an email to that organizational box, and we’ll send you a pre-screen. If everything looks good, we’ll set that appointment up with you. After that appointment, we will request your source documentation, such as your driver’s license, Social Security card, birth certificate, passport, and any licenses and certifications that you may have. At that point, we’ll start building your profile in our system. Once that profile is basically complete, we will transfer you over to our pre-processing cell, and they will help get you set up with the Military Entrance Processing Station to get you in to take your physical. Once that physical is complete, if everything looks good, then they will work on your application with you to make sure that that is squared away and schedule you for any type of interviews that you may have to do. Once the application is complete, they will go ahead and submit that to the board, and at that point, we’ll be just waiting to see if you’re selected or not. If you are selected, you’ll get pushed over to the post-processing cell. They will help you with your commissioning documentation, your background check, and things of that nature.
So that is the process in a nutshell.
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Success stories are really common in physical therapy. I love just seeing people get back to doing what they do. Like our counterparts on the flight line, they maintain the planes, we maintain humans. My name is Captain Scott Chini. I’m a physical therapist in the Physical Therapy Clinic at Joint Base Elmendorff, Richardson. As a physical therapist, to be successful successful, you have to care. You have to love what you do and love what the people you serve do. As a civilian therapist, your job is to make money. We don’t have those financial restrictions and need to see people a certain number of times to make a budget. If you like just sitting in the clinic and seeing patients all day, Active Duty Air Force is not for you. We have tons of equipment in our gym. We have multiple tables and equipment, lifting equipment, running equipment. I think the equipment is not necessarily as important as our hands and our eyes. Getting our hands on patients is incredibly rewarding when they walk in here with a limp and we can do certain things and they can walk out without a limp. As physical therapists in the Air Force, we have the opportunity to get outside the walls of this medical group We love treating patients, and we love going to them as well.
You’re surrounded by really great leaders that have proven themselves over many years to get their experiences and glean things from them as well. We serve the people of this country, and it’s an honor to be part of something bigger than yourself. If you’re training to be a physical therapist and you’re interested in getting out and experiencing of different things, the United States Air Force is for you.