Physical Therapist Resume Example
Professional resume template and tips for Physical Therapist positions
Embarking on a career as a Physical Therapist means dedicating yourself to patient rehabilitation, using your expertise to restore mobility and relieve pain. This guide provides you with a clear overview of the Physical Therapist role, detailing the daily clinical tasks, the essential technologies like eClinicalWorks and MEDITECH, and the critical skills from critical thinking to service orientation that employers seek. We also break down the key knowledge areas and offer practical tips for building a standout resume that showcases your qualifications. Use this resource to confidently prepare your next career step and start building your tailored resume with Mokaru.
KELLY ROSS
Professional Summary
Licensed Physical Therapist with 8+ years specializing in outpatient orthopedics. Achieved a 92% patient satisfaction score through personalized care plans. Proficient in eClinicalWorks for documentation and leveraging critical thinking to restore function.
Skills
Experience
- Led development and implementation of a patient education protocol using critical thinking and eClinicalWorks EHR, reducing readmission rates by 18% over 12 months
- Spearheaded training program for 10 junior therapists on Clinicient Insight software, enhancing team documentation accuracy and compliance by 25%
- Directed a multidisciplinary pain management initiative, applying social perceptiveness to tailor interventions that improved patient satisfaction scores by 22%
- Owned transition from MEDITECH to eClinicalWorks EHR for outpatient department, utilizing Excel to migrate 500+ patient records with 99.9% data integrity
- Collaborated with occupational therapists to design a standardized home exercise program, using writing skills to create materials adopted across 3 clinics
- Applied active listening and service orientation to resolve 15+ complex patient cases monthly, consistently achieving 95% patient adherence to treatment plans
- Supported senior therapists by efficiently documenting initial evaluations and progress notes in Physical Therapy Advantage software for 20+ weekly patients
- Learned to monitor patient responses using Clinicient Insight data, assisting in adjusting treatments that accelerated recovery timelines by an average of 10%
- Executed prescribed treatment plans while developing speaking skills to clearly instruct patients and families, achieving 100% accuracy in home program understanding
Education
Certificates
- Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
- Orthopedic Clinical Specialist
- Geriatric Certified Specialist
Build Your Physical Therapist Resume
Create a professional, ATS-optimized resume tailored for Physical Therapist positions in minutes.
What does a Physical Therapist do?
A Physical Therapist performs various tasks on a daily basis. Here are the core responsibilities you can expect in this role:
- Plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients.
- Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention.
- Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient's chart or enter information into computer.
- Instruct patient and family in treatment procedures to be continued at home.
- Evaluate effects of treatment at various stages and adjust treatments to achieve maximum benefit.
What skills do you need as a Physical Therapist?
Employers hiring for Physical Therapist positions look for candidates with a strong combination of technical and soft skills. Here are the most important skills to highlight on your resume:
What knowledge areas are important for a Physical Therapist?
Beyond skills and tools, employers value candidates with deep knowledge in these areas. Consider highlighting relevant coursework, certifications, or experience:
How do I write a great Physical Therapist resume?
Creating an effective Physical Therapist resume requires focusing on what employers in the Healthcare sector value most.
Use relevant keywords
ATS systems scan for specific terms. Include these keywords naturally throughout your resume:
Quantify your impact
When describing how you "plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients", include metrics like percentages, team sizes, budgets, or project scope to demonstrate real results.
Showcase technical proficiency
Highlight hands-on experience with eClinicalWorks EHR software, MEDITECH software, Microsoft Word and any customer and personal service certifications that validate your expertise.
Match the experience level
For Physical Therapist roles, employers typically expect usually requires a master's degree or higher. Highlight matching qualifications prominently at the top of your resume.
Example bullet points
Here are some strong bullet points you could adapt for your Physical Therapist resume:
- Led development and implementation of a patient education protocol using critical thinking and eClinicalWorks EHR, reducing readmission rates by 18% over 12 months
- Spearheaded training program for 10 junior therapists on Clinicient Insight software, enhancing team documentation accuracy and compliance by 25%
- Directed a multidisciplinary pain management initiative, applying social perceptiveness to tailor interventions that improved patient satisfaction scores by 22%
How to use AI to improve your Physical Therapist resume
AI tools like ChatGPT can be incredibly helpful when crafting your Physical Therapist resume. They can help you brainstorm achievements, rephrase bullet points for impact, identify missing keywords, and tailor your content to specific job descriptions.
However, AI is not perfect. Always proofread the output carefully. AI can sometimes make factual errors, use generic language, or miss the nuances of your specific experience. Think of AI as a helpful assistant, not a replacement for your own judgment.
AI Resume Prompt
You are a senior recruiter with 15+ years of experience in technical hiring and resume optimization. You have reviewed thousands of resumes for Physical Therapist positions and know exactly what hiring managers and ATS systems look for.
Your task:
Analyze my resume for a Physical Therapist position and provide concrete, actionable feedback to maximize my chances.
Job description:
[paste the job description here]
Provide feedback on the following:
- Match analysis: Which requirements from the job description ARE and ARE NOT reflected in my resume?
- Quantification: Which bullet points lack concrete numbers/metrics? Provide examples of how I can rewrite them.
- Keywords: Which technical terms from the job description (such as eClinicalWorks EHR software, MEDITECH software, Microsoft Word, etc.) are missing or could be more prominent?
- Impact statements: Rewrite my 3 weakest bullet points using the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result)
- ATS optimization: What adjustments will increase my score in Applicant Tracking Systems?
- Priorities: Give me a top-5 of changes that will make the biggest difference, ranked by impact.
Be direct and critical - I want honest feedback, not compliments.
Why use Mokaru instead? At Mokaru, we have invested extensive research into our AI prompts and continuously update them based on recruiter feedback and ATS testing. Our AI resume builder handles the complexity for you: optimizing for ATS systems, matching job descriptions, and ensuring professional formatting, so you can focus on landing interviews.
Pediatric Physical Therapist Resume Example
Looking for a Pediatric Physical Therapist resume instead? The skills and experience are very similar to a Physical Therapist. Here is an example you can use as inspiration:
ZACHARY ADAMS
Summary
Licensed Physical Therapist with 8+ years specializing in outpatient orthopedics. Achieved a 92% patient satisfaction score through personalized care plans. Proficient in eClinicalWorks for documentation and leveraging critical thinking to restore function.
Skills
Experience
- Led development and implementation of a patient education protocol using critical thinking and eClinicalWorks EHR, reducing readmission rates by 18% over 12 months
- Spearheaded training program for 10 junior therapists on Clinicient Insight software, enhancing team documentation accuracy and compliance by 25%
- Directed a multidisciplinary pain management initiative, applying social perceptiveness to tailor interventions that improved patient satisfaction scores by 22%
- Owned transition from MEDITECH to eClinicalWorks EHR for outpatient department, utilizing Excel to migrate 500+ patient records with 99.9% data integrity
- Collaborated with occupational therapists to design a standardized home exercise program, using writing skills to create materials adopted across 3 clinics
- Applied active listening and service orientation to resolve 15+ complex patient cases monthly, consistently achieving 95% patient adherence to treatment plans
- Supported senior therapists by efficiently documenting initial evaluations and progress notes in Physical Therapy Advantage software for 20+ weekly patients
- Learned to monitor patient responses using Clinicient Insight data, assisting in adjusting treatments that accelerated recovery timelines by an average of 10%
- Executed prescribed treatment plans while developing speaking skills to clearly instruct patients and families, achieving 100% accuracy in home program understanding
Education
Certifications
- Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
- Orthopedic Clinical Specialist
- Geriatric Certified Specialist
Build Your Pediatric Physical Therapist Resume
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Frequently Asked Questions
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