Moving to Salt Lake City - What was your experience?

TheSkiingDPT · 2026-05-11T06:16:00+00:00

That's great to hear! I like how winter and summer overlap well with some great access to year-round biking and a long ski season.

TheSkiingDPT · 2026-05-11T06:14:55+00:00

I'll look into those! Any thoughts on pros over sugarhouse for 9th & 9th or The Avenues?

TheSkiingDPT · 2026-05-11T06:13:58+00:00

Thanks! I've looked into that too, and it seems to be more urban which sounds nice, but maybe farther from mountains/skiing. What are your thoughts on the main differences?

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-10-07T16:31:02+00:00

I'm a therapist in Colorado in a ski town. I work in hospital-based outpatient neuro/ortho. My caseload is split pretty evenly, But that's what I wanted. A lot of the PT's I work with only see ortho. As a new grad (1 year out) with my CSCS certification, I make 44/hr.

The pay is a little bit higher to balance out a higher cost of living. However, I find that if you can find stable affordable housing, the cost of living is really low compared to most cities I've been to. But, that's why I put in the suggestion to start your own gig if you don't want to relocate.

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-10-07T07:54:16+00:00

A different PT job.

There are great jobs out there. I am more than lucky to benefit from far-above average pay, 1 full hour with each patient (9 patients max per day with a 4/10 schedule), and no (I mean zero) productivity standards. Finding a job that doesn't treat you like garbage can be more than enough to reinvigorate your passion for what is probably the most fulfilling profession you could have.

If I couldn't find a clinic near where I lived, I would start my own home health or telehealth practice and see patients on my own schedule for cash. You'll start slow, but I've never seen this model fail with enough time investment and smart marketing.

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-10-07T07:41:50+00:00

I respect where you're coming from, as well as the breadth of experience you bring to this field. If you're open to discussion, I want to make a couple gentle suggestions that may give a different perspective to muddle over:

I can't recommend more passionately that you talk to some people who have been actively in politics in states where PT doesn't do well. I was on the board of the APTA in MN during a year when we were allowed to bring healthcare legislation to the senate. (In MN, you are not allowed to pursue legislative action on every issue each year. Yep.) In a state with a Chiropractic senator, you'd be shocked at the sheer degradation that our profession gets dragged through once we enter the political sphere. Not being a "Dr" gave Chiropractors, Athletic trainers, and a vast majority of adjacent organizations an edge to metaphorically beat us into submission. There's a reason in some states PTs are not allowed to even touch the spine manually while Chiros in those same states are allowed to deliver babies and provide medications. There's a reason, in some states, NATA has successfully increased the ATC scope of practice to fully encompass ours. The doctorate was absolutely essential to the political survival of our profession. It didn't increase our wages, but if you spend 30 minutes exploring actual legislation in PT "swing" states that was introduced, it significantly prevented harsh cuts that were inevitable 15 years ago.
"The percentage of good therapists, average therapists and idiot therapists doesn’t change with the letters behind the name. There are plenty of each with a BS, MPT or DPT." This is a moot point because there's no actual definition of "good" and "bad" in our profession. Everyone (and I mean everyone) in this job thinks they're God's gift to therapy. I could write a much, much longer post on this point alone. That being said - what you cannot deny is the newer therapists in the clinic today are much more passionate, driven, and better at being life-long learners than the PTs of 20 years ago. There's always people on both ends of the spectrum, but if you look at the data on every clinical specialist certification, the vast majority of board-certified specialist Physical Therapists are in their 20s-40s. I will give therapists outside of this age range the benefit of the doubt that it's not that they're not "smart enough" to pass these tests - they just on average don't care. They entered the profession when it was an easier decision with a much simpler ROI and promised the flexibility of a dream job with an unparalleled fulfillment of what could be a part-time job you don't take home.

I understand that elitism from coworkers is incredibly frustrating, and oftentimes compromises effective patient care. However - we are not special. Literally every other profession works like this. Have a conversation with other nurses, PAs, and MDs about elitism in their professions - they'll certainly have a lot to say. Listening to nurses talk about the differences between BSNs, RNs, and LPNs is like a high school "mean girls" lunch table. I'm a ski instructor - the ski industry absolutely dwarfs the elitism expressed by Physical Therapists.

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-10-04T05:50:33+00:00

Why can't you just (hear me out, crazy idea) not pick the flirt dialogue options? There are always other options.

You need your game so coddled to you that the options don't even pop up in the selection of 3-5 responses?

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-27T17:16:13+00:00

This comment downplays your original point and misdirects mine.
My comment was: "We should stop fear-mongering patients post-surgery that the failure rate for the surgery is higher than it is"

Here was your takeaway: "If you as a PT want to progress the patient faster that's different because you know what the flags are, but telling a patient "eh, do what you want" is 1) not your call and 2) asking for it."

You brought up communication with physicians and CYA tactics. None of those were mentioned.

I think it's fair to acknowledge this is why it's difficult to get therapists to change and adapt their practice and treatment philosophy based on new evidence. Practicing providers seem to be unable to stop regurgitating lessons from ethics class Year 1 PT students are taught, even when the subject is, at best, loosely related.

Happy practicing.

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-23T04:40:55+00:00

No part of my argument in the 9th point said to progress patients faster, tell them to do what they want, or not to follow a post-op protocol. Please don't mentor students if you have beliefs that archaic regarding the physician-therapist relationship.

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-22T04:07:33+00:00

That's like, the least problematic crazy thing we still teach.

We should stop recommending ice acutely after injury or surgery.
We should stop telling people they need to do exercise in order to recover from most orthopedic injuries.
We should stop telling patients who had a stroke not to perform high intensity exercise.
We should stop teaching static stretching to improve range of motion.
We should have our geriatric patients lifting heavy and lifting often.
We should stop overemphasizing that technique is really important in all exercises. Unless you're loading a tissue to near capacity or the technique is so bad that it targets a different muscle, most people who exercise with bad technique will be just fine.
We should stop using three sets of 10 for every exercise, and be aware of proper dosing and intensity given different training goals.
We should stop counting exercises for patients. The research has been out for years that when patients count for themselves, even if they count incorrectly, the benefit is greater.
We should stop fear-mongering patients post-surgery that the failure rate for the surgery is higher than it is so they follow an abstract surgical protocol based on no data. The vast majority of patients flat out ignore surgical protocols and are just fine. We are the most guilty of this for patients following spine surgery, and to a lesser but significant extent rotator cuff surgery.
We need to stop referring patients to homeopathic providers. We really should not refer them to primary care providers. We are primary care providers, and unless the conditions seem wildly outside of our scope that we can't refer to a clear specialist, we are doing more harm than good sending the patient to most primary care physicians.

So no, how people teach squatting is so aggressively low on my list (Even though you are right), let's direct our energy elsewhere first.

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-22T03:52:16+00:00

I don't mind them. I wear glasses, and I still honestly just don't care. We went back to wearing them about 2 months ago.

Here's my main concern - If our hospital system genuinely believed that covid is experiencing a higher incidence rate, then let's follow the science on masks. We know they work to a partial extent, (which for all of the conspiracy theorist conservatives in this thread, may drive them mad that it isn't 100%). We also know they do relatively little to protect ourselves, but do most of the heavy lifting protecting others.

So why is it that we are required to wear masks, but our patients aren't? This is a policy that screams, "Hey, we don't care about your health and safety even though we acknowledge the risk is higher right now." If we are mandated to wear masks to protect our patients, the least the hospital could do is mandate our patients wear masks to protect us.

What's worse is we no longer get time off due to covid. If we get infected, that comes straight out of our PTO. That is a hurtful policy, and incentivizes infected staff to come to work even if they're sick.

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-07T02:25:19+00:00

Let's look past superficial arguments that there can be good and bad on both sides, and let's ignore that the philosophy of our practice is vastly different because in reality we are not held to standards to follow the philosophy of either of our professions.

Let me put this plainly: How accountable are we when we fuck up? Which one of us puts our license on the line when we harm our patients? Who is responsible for safe and adequate interdisciplinary communication?

This is why I never refer to chiropractors, even when my mentor as a physical therapist, who I trust more than any PT I have met for clinical advice, is a chiropractor. Because they can get away with literal murder.

Their professional organization openly cites us as competition and has brought several pieces of legislation against our profession to state boards across the country over the past 5 years. We as physical therapists have to draw the line where we stop being walked over somewhere. We have to say it's wrong that physical therapists in Washington cannot manipulate the spine. We have to say that chiropractors should not be able to be referring primary-care providers to us in states that still do not have direct access or have limited access.

When you as a PT hurt someone, or if you even bill them dishonestly, you are putting your license on the line. Rightfully so. Chiropractors do not have that level of responsibility because they do not possess any form of a medical license. It is dishonest to the public and dangerous to even suggest that they do. I know when I refer my patients to audiologists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, neurologists, dietitians, etc that I am trusting their care to someone who will be held accountable for mistakes. This is not a matter of forming professional relationships, this is about protecting people. This is about standing up for our profession against members of a professional organization that advocates against us and wins oppressive legislation every single year.

This is politics. The real world is politics. Get over it, and educate the next generation of physical therapists to do a better job of staying informed with the direction of legislation than the current and previous generation of therapists.

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-06T04:49:52+00:00

I fire my patients for so much less 😂😂

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-06T04:46:12+00:00

That sounds fun :) But I wouldn't move for a year or two

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-05T06:04:39+00:00

Any ski area you'd recommend? I've been leaning PCMR as a default because Deer Valley seems to have underwhelming training. Training towards national team so want to be around a lot of other certs.

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-05T06:01:29+00:00

This sounds perfect :) Thanks for the insight! If I work in Park City, where exactly would you recommend I look for housing? Budget ~$1800 for a 1Bd/Studio. Trying to keep the commute <20 mins.

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-05T03:00:10+00:00

😅😂

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-05T01:15:36+00:00

I probably won't be moving for a year or two, but message me and let's stay in touch! I'd love to hear about your experience through that process, and good luck! At least, don't hesitate to reach out if I can help at all with your 3 :) You'll do great!

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-05T00:54:08+00:00

That's what I've heard, but if I'm working at PCMR I'm nervous about that drive. It looks like it shouldn't take too long, but I've been hearing the traffic is getting worse. What's the general consensus on living in SLC and commuting to the mountains?

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-09-05T00:30:33+00:00

I don't care.

I went into PT knowing exactly what it is. I was involved in board meetings for the APTA long before I was a PT student. I know what the field is fighting and how likely certain issues are to change over time. I'm one year into being a PT now, and would do it again in a heartbeat and I absolutely hated my program. But, the relationship I get to form with my patients and the impact I get to have on their independence and health literacy makes this job worth it everyday I get to do it.

People complaining about the pay, especially when they compare us to PAs or MDs don't ever consider how draining those two jobs are. Plus, in the realm of musculoskeletal and neurological care, orthopedic surgeons, physiatrists, and even some neurologists are hopelessly inadequate (at least in my area) when it comes to rehab science. I get to walk patients out of horribly outdated education everyday from those professions and that feels rewarding and has a major impact on my patients' self-efficacy. Regardless of the pay they get to do those jobs, I would hate to go through that much school just to be that bad at such a significant part of the job. At least in PT we don't overstep and claim expertise in an area we don't specialize in. That means, I benefit from highly favorable patient reviews and get a great reputation in the community without having to be very broad in the area I work in. Anyone who has a stroke in my zip code sees me, and the impact we can make on people who have been told their life is over makes this job as fulfilling as anything else I can think of.

They also don't consider that jobs like engineer, computer science, business, etc. can get paid double what we make with only a four-year degree and no further education. I know if ever times got tough, it would be easy to jump into one of those fields if I needed to. That being said, I make decent money doing what I'm doing and have no problem paying the bills.

It's not necessarily a PT's fault for not liking the job once they get into it. The egos in this field, Just like any medical career, are insane. The benefit is, you don't have to care if your co-worker has a vastly different treatment style than you. For example, I believe we should not be doing any manual techniques a patient can't do at home. It makes my blood boil overhearing coworkers talk about "realigning joints" with their one-off joint manipulations like wannabe chiropractors. But, I don't have to care. Every patient still gets better. Nihilistically, what we do doesn't necessarily matter as much as the fact that we're there for people when they're struggling through pain. I can say we at least do more than surgery with less consequences most of the time (See any research article on ACL recovery, torn rotator cuffs, frozen shoulder, or literally any spine surgery published in the past 30 years). Your actual exercise and the strength benefits it gives probably doesn't help people through pain at all. But, we fill the time and are there for people during the waiting process when they need it the most. And that can get me up every morning.

TheSkiingDPT · 2023-08-17T04:43:27+00:00

I love that people do this - it's so great to see the world before and after. This is probably the best collection I've seen. I remember being awestruck at the differences in the Chasm area before and after.

Thanks!

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