Getting hired in a hospital or PT? please offer advise!

[Smart Guy]

I have been a MT for 2 years and have a goal for myself: Which is to work with a Physical Therapist or in a hospital. Right now, I specialize in sports massage and injury management, and am very capable with deep tissue techniques. I also work for Massage Envy.
My question is: are there any other modalities I should look into so I can get my dream job? I have been looking at nueromuscular Therapy, orthopedic massage, and structural integration but there is so many opinions and information that I am not sure what to think.
Can anybody give me say, a basic guideline or hints? I'm already looking into CEU's and an insider tip would be really helpful.

*edit* As an aside, I am also a 2nd degree Reiki practioner and am working towards a certification in craniosacral therapy, because I have clients who really cannot handle even a firm pressure. Would that training help or would it more than likely get some guffaw's from an interviewer in the medical field?

 

[rYokucHa]

Why not talk to a few physical therapists and see what they recommend and then do it.

 

[Farsea D]

I am a bit nervous to take such a direct route, simply because for the past two years of being a therapist I have been given the "if you have to ask you'll never know" attitude from many people when I ask questions about getting into that work.
Maybe I am just looking in the wrong places.

 

[connie_jon]

Do you have any rehabilitation facilities around you?

If so, I'd start there. You can either look up the facility online and then click on "careers" or whatever they have listed (if they have something listed) and then most likely you would search under "allied health".

It may look something like this: http://www.memorialhermann.org/careers/iframe.aspx

I would also suggest pulling out a phone book (either paper or internet) and searching your area for all of the physical therapists offices in town, along with the hospitals in town. Next, take down their phone numbers and mailing addresses. You may have to make phone calls to clarify zip codes. Then put together a nice resume and mail it to each. As a rule, it is hard to find a job like this, but it gives you an "in" to call each place in two weeks time and ask if they are hiring or better yet, ask if you can come down and take a tour of their facility. Taking the tour will put you one step closer to meeting the people you are interested in working with and possibly open up some more opportunities or maybe even be given a lead to somewhere else that is hiring (maybe a place they would be aware of, that you would not).

The other possibility is to formulate a letter stating your credentials and that you are activiely accepting referrals from these individuals, in the event they have a client they would like to "refer out". Reasons for this would be... proximity of their office is inconvenient for the client and the client is not keeping the appointments, they have too many clients and would like an potetial office to send overflow, they don't want to do "massage" work on a client and would rather just refer the client out.

I'd also suggest searching around on "careerbuilder.com".

Good luck!

 

[Johan]

I work for a local large hospital as an on call when they need me sort of arrangement. I turned down full time as the pay is not very good. I figured the experience in that kind of setting would be good to have. The way I got in was just by going to their web site and checking on available jobs. It was the easiest I have ever gotten a job but it did take a long time from interview to the first time I worked for them. If you some large hospitals in your area try checking their sites. As for what they are looking for it depends on the dept. PT is going to want different things then say the medi spa It sounds like you are highly qualified for the PT dept. I work with the medi spa so it is not so different then what I normally do. They will likely help you get credentialed since most people in that setting are insurance cases. Good luck, just start putting in apps and telling the universe thats where you want to go and I bet it will happen.

 

[Teafico]

Thanks pueppi and sunshine!

 

[Pompal 09.]

I'd probably opt for the NMT first.

If you get trained and certified as an NMT, you'll have a great in-depth knowledge of anatomy and physiology, trigger point therapy, muscle energy technique, and some positional release. You'll have studied and worked with a wide variety of specific medical conditions as well, and should be well prepared to take on a host of complex cases. Also, NMT is a relatively well integrated and recognized approach that will prepare you to rapidly assimilate other types of therapeutic work into your practice.

Orthopedic massage is also attractive, with the primary strengths being efficient assessment of the client and use of a wider variety of techniques to treat clients. Excellent assessment skills are of use in any practice setting, but will be particularly helpful for working alongside PTs. Integrated use of multiple modalities is something most of us do anyway, but orthopedic massage training can really streamline your approach. If you already have a strong technical base in multiple modalities (i.e. NMT), it will be easier to excell in orthopedic massage to become a certified practitioner.

Structural Integration is a whole different animal. NMT and Orthopedic massage immediately address the condition(s) as presented, and take a larger view of the client's overall alignment and function if there is an opportunity for multiple sessions. On the other hand, Structural Integration really needs multiple sessions to take full effect, and the process is probably not going to integrate well in a hospital or PT clinic where the emphasis is upon more immediate results. However, chronic pain clinics or other facilities that emphasize progressive long-term condition management may be more open to this kind of work.

All three approaches require a significant commitment of time and money, but any would be worth it. You will certainly learn a ton of immediately applicable info that will greatly enhance your credentials.

I would not emphasize your Reiki background or Craniosacral Therapy studies when applying to hospitals or PT clinics. Neither will be much interested unless they alreay have a strong interest in CAM therapies, and even then they'll want you to know your anatomy and physiology and be able to communicate coherently with medical terminology. However, don't leave those off your resume, as you have already presented one excellent and extremely rational reason for offering those modalities.