A Comparative Study of the Education, Background, Job Satisfaction, and Well-Being of Physical Therapists and...

This study compared the education and background, position characteristics, job responsibilities and satisfaction, and well-being of physical therapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs) in the United States. A mixed-methods, cross-sectional conventional mail survey design was used. The five sections of this survey included personal, education and background, position, and job satisfaction and well-being profiles. One-hundred thirteen PT and 101 OT participated. Between PTs and OTs, significant differences were found for age, years of work experience, salary, and salary adjusted for 40-hr-workweek (p < 0.001), highest level of education (p < 0.001), observation hours (p = 0.004), and the number of programs applied to (p < 0.001). However, between the two professions, no differences existed for job satisfaction, career satisfaction, consideration of pursuing other professions, compromised physical, mental, and non-work relationships (p = 0.396), hours worked per week (p = 0.091), direct admission (p > 0.05), undergraduate or graduate internship hours, undergraduate research studies, or undergraduate GPA (p > 0.05). Differences between career and sex were not significant (p = 0.063). These results facilitate better understanding of the current state of affairs within PT and OT professions.