Physical therapy is a dynamic profession with an established theoretical and scientific base and widespread clinical applications in the restoration, maintenance, and promotion of optimal physical function. For more than 750,000 people every day in the United States, physical therapists:
- Diagnose and manage movement dysfunction and enhance physical and functional abilities.
- Restore, maintain, and promote not only optimal physical function but optimal wellness and fitness and optimal
quality of life as it relates to movement and health. - Prevent the onset, symptoms, and progression of impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities that may result from diseases, disorders, conditions, or injuries. The terms “physical therapy” and “physiotherapy,” and the terms “physical therapist” and “physiotherapist,” are synonymous. As essential participants in the health care delivery system, physical therapists assume leadership roles in rehabilitation; in prevention, health maintenance, and programs that promote health, wellness, and fitness; and in professional and community organizations.