Based on a personal point of view, the job description for a physical therapist assistant incorporates the treatment of patients through exercises, massages, balance training, gait, and other types of therapeutic interventions. Moreover, still based on a personal perspective, physical therapy assistants are further responsible for recording patients’ health progress and consequently reporting the results acquired as a consequence of each treatment session. However, each of the duties mentioned above must be carried out under a physical therapist’s supervision.
On the other hand, according to the organization of interest, the job description for a physical therapy assistant incorporates physical therapy services under the supervision and consequent direction of a physical therapist. According to the organization’s description, a physical therapy assistant is responsible for implementing various aspects of patient care, acquiring data connected to the treatment given to patients, and coordinating with the physical therapist for purposes of modifying care based on patient needs.
However, a comparison of the two job descriptions depicted above reveals differences whereby one of the two, namely the organizational definition, is more detailed than the other, making it easy for an interested individual to understand what a physical therapist assistant is required to do a work setting. For instance, based on the organizational definition, a physical therapy assistant has to collect data associated with patients’ treatment. However, based on the individual description provided, a physical therapy assistant is required to record the health progress. Therefore, when compared, the latter definition is vague as it does not provide a detailed description concerning how a physical therapist can record a patient’s health progress compared to the former elaboration, which indicates how such an objective can be achieved.