Student Physical Therapist resume examples for 2024

A student physical therapist's resume should highlight their experience working with patients, particularly in areas like rehabilitation and patient care. As Matthew Hawzen PhD, Assistant Professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University College at Florham, points out, "building a strong professional network and showcasing your expertise through social media or professional blogs can also increase your visibility and value to employers." Dr. Jeff Lau Ph.D., Dean at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions, emphasizes the importance of highlighting clinical and internship experiences, especially those that involve working with specific populations or cutting-edge equipment.

Student Physical Therapist resume example

How to format your student physical therapist resume:

• Use the job title 'Student Physical Therapist' on your resume to apply for the role.,
• Highlight achievements in your work experience, such as directing and supervising other healthcare professionals and performing manual skills. Emphasize how you've monitored patient outcomes and safety.,
• Fit your resume on one page, focusing on relevant experience and achievements for the student physical therapist role.

Choose from 10+ customizable student physical therapist resume templates

Choose from a variety of easy-to-use student physical therapist resume templates and get expert advice from Zippia’s AI resume writer along the way. Using pre-approved templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your student physical therapist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Student Physical Therapist resume format and sections

1. Add contact information to your student physical therapist resume

Your name should be the biggest text on the page and be at or near the top of the document. Your address doesn't need to include your street name or house number - listing your city and state works just fine. Your email address should be professional, but not your current work email address. It's not a good look to use your work email for personal projects (job-searching). Your social media can be included if you have a fully-fledged LinkedIn page or another social media page that showcases your relevant skill set.

2. Add relevant education to your student physical therapist resume

• The name of your school
• The date you graduated (Month, Year or Year are both appropriate)
• The name of your degree

If you graduated more than 15 years ago, you should consider dropping your graduation date to avoid age discrimination.

Optional subsections for your education section include:

• Academic awards (Dean's List, Latin honors, etc. )
• GPA (if you're a recent graduate and your GPA was 3.5+)
• Extra certifications
• Academic projects (thesis, dissertation, etc. )

Other tips to consider when writing your education section include:

• If you're a recent graduate, you might opt to place your education section above your experience section
• The more work experience you get, the shorter your education section should be
• List your education in reverse chronological order, with your most recent and high-ranking degrees first
• If you haven't graduated yet, you can include "Expected graduation date" to the entry for that school

Student Physical Therapist Resume Relevant Education Example # 1

Doctoral Degree In Kinesiology 2012 - 2015

Johnson & Wales University Providence, RI

Student Physical Therapist Resume Relevant Education Example # 2

Doctoral Degree In Kinesiology 2012 - 2015

University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC

3. Next, create a student physical therapist skills section on your resume

• Include 6-12 skills, in bullet point form
• List mostly hard skills; soft skills are hard to test
• Emphasize the skills that are most important for the job

Hard skills are generally more important to hiring managers because they relate to on-the-job knowledge and specific experience with a certain technology or process.

Soft skills are also valuable, as they're highly transferable and make you a great person to work alongside, but they're impossible to prove on a resume.

Example of skills to include on an student physical therapist resume

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

The branch of secondary healthcare which is responsible for giving short-term care to patients recovering from severe injuries or urgent medical problems is known as acute care. Acute care comprises multiple domains like; emergency care, urgent care, short-term stabilization, pre-hospital care, critical care, and trauma care.

Top Skills for a Student Physical Therapist

4. List your student physical therapist experience

The most important part of any resume for a student physical therapist is the experience section. Recruiters and hiring managers expect to see your experience listed in reverse chronological order, meaning that you should begin with your most recent experience and then work backwards. Don't just list your job duties below each job entry. Instead, make sure most of your bullet points discuss impressive achievements from your past positions. Whenever you can, use numbers to contextualize your accomplishments for the hiring manager reading your resume. It's okay if you can't include exact percentages or dollar figures. There's a big difference even between saying "Managed a team of student physical therapists" and "Managed a team of 6 student physical therapists over a 9-month project. " Most importantly, make sure that the experience you include is relevant to the job you're applying for. Use the job description to ensure that each bullet point on your resume is appropriate and helpful.

• Managed high volume caseload with daily scheduled appointments while accepting walk-in clinic referrals or treatments in workers compensation facility.
• Evaluated and provided interventions and education in hospital setting with emphasis on joint replacements, CVAs, and cancer patients.
• Administered treatment through use of ultrasound/electric stimulation machines.
• Organized paperwork, observed the different rehabilitation circuits that were given to each patient
• Determined durable medical equipment needs for residents prior to discharge and for facility utilization.

• Provided treatment for patients of varying diagnoses on all floors of the hospital, including ICU, ER, General Med/surgical.
• Applied various therapies, including heat, cold, and ultrasound; stretched injured patients.
• Performed physical therapy evaluations, continuous examinations and daily treatments in comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation facility.
• Developed full caseload expected of a new graduate and established more autonomy in clinical decision making for orthopedic conditions.
• Performed evaluations, developed POC, progressed POC, developed continued care programs, and supervised staff.

• Developed, with Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, a specialty program for low level CVA patients.
• Utilized evidenced based practices: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Trauma-Focused CBT.
• Managed physical therapy interventions for 15-20 patients in sub-acute rural 76 bed heath & rehabilitation facility.
• Worked with a variety of complex patients on all hospital floors, including telemetry, orthopedics, and ICU.
• Assessed and implemented treatment for patients with orthopedic and neurological needs for hospital-based outpatient facility.

• Assigned to both pediatric ICU and PACU floors, treating patients receiving surgical interventions or with varying medical conditions.
• Served in the capacity of lead physical therapist in a SNF, with 138 beds, in Central Tennessee.
• Gained experience working with populations such as: geriatric population, ICU, Cardiac rehabilitation and patients experiencing several system interactions.
• Served individuals of varying cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds; primarily in trauma and neurological ICU
• Treated patients with multiple co-morbidity status; cardiopulmonary, CVA, TBI, and orthopedics.

6. Finally, add an student physical therapist resume summary or objective statement

A resume summary statement consists of 1-3 sentences at the top of your student physical therapist resume that quickly summarizes who you are and what you have to offer. The summary statement should include your job title, years of experience (if it's 3+), and an impressive accomplishment, if you have space for it. Remember to emphasize skills and experiences that feature in the job description.

Common student physical therapist resume skills

• Patients
• Occupational Therapy
• Rehabilitation
• Patient Care
• Physical Therapy Assistants
• Adaptive
• Orthopedic Diagnoses
• Acute Care
• Gait Training
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Prosthetics
• CVA
• Orthotics
• Discharge Planning
• Patient Education
• Therapeutic Exercises
• ICU

• Treatment Sessions
• Cerebral Palsy
• Functional Mobility
• Inpatient Rehabilitation
• Outcome Measures
• Cervical
• CI
• Chronic Pain
• Physical Therapy
• Spinal Cord Injury
• THA
• Joint Mobilization
• Traction
• Assistive Devices
• Electrical Stimulation
• Developmental Delays
• Bed Mobility

• Orthopedic Injuries
• Discharge Summaries
• Discharge Recommendations
• DPT
• Manual Therapy Techniques
• Patient Evaluations
• COPD
• TKA
• Joint Replacements
• Electronic Documentation
• PTAs
• Soft Tissue Mobilization
• Medicare
• Direct Supervision
• SLP