Hedi Binder wrote:
>
> Dear list members,
>
> I am the student's counselor of the Austrian Physiotherapy Association
> (OPV).
>
> The students of the physiotherapy academies (11 in Austria) are in the
> last weeks of their studies (3 years) and will graduate by the End of
> September. Most of them are going to take a job in Austria, complete
> their knowledge in special courses and do a usual career. Some of them
> want to go further, they want to work in an other country or go on for
> a master's degree.
>
> Could you please tell me what the PT's who want to work in the USA will
> have to do to get a working permit and an accreditation of their
> diploma. In Europe the Austrian Diploma is considered as a baccalaureat
> degree and they can work in all 15 countries of the European
> Community.
> Where would they have to apply for a job in the USA?
>
> Please don't tell me that the job market in the US is full, I've
> followed that discussion some weeks ago. If our students want to work
> in the US they'll find out themselves if they can do it or not, I just
> want to be able to inform them what is required for them to apply
> anywhere.
>
> Thanks for any help
>
> Hedi Binder, PT
HI Heidi
Back when I graduated ( 7 yrs ago) our class was approached by a US
rehab company who basically organised the whole visa process for us so
that's the best route to take, they even offered us $ 4,000 scholarships
to entice us over ! The various US PT magazines have lots of these
companies advertised. However the credentialing process takes a
while...it depends if the US recognises your school and the programme(
ours was a 4 year degree programme) and usually requires extremely
detailed documents from the school with all your course hours, subjects
taught etc.. You also need copies of your degree, etc..With us, the
school did this for us..Each US state has completely different
requirements. Credentialing is getting more difficult and differs
significantly from state to state, some require more hours of physics,
others more biology , maths etc. Our company had positions in Florida &
New Jersey and the whole process at that time took between 6-12 mths to
get visas etc.
When we finally came to Florida we had to sit the State board exams and
then got our licences a few months later, working as PT aides until that
time.
However things are getting harder nowadays...I am an Irish PT working
now in California,( I left FLorida after a year and went home ) .
Initially I approached an American recruiter like before but he told me
there were no jobs in the area I wanted so I was on my own. The whole
process of getting back in and licensed in the US took me 2 yrs of phone
tag, and paperwork nightmares and I already had a Florida PT licence !!
California is the most difficult state to get into ( of course I had to
do it as my husband moved here !) I had to go back to college over here
and do 100 hours of physics cause they said our curriculum did not have
enough....not only did I need to do more physics, there is now a new
requirement that foreign trained PT's need to do 8-9 mths of supervised
work before you can be licensed..luckily they accepted my year worked in
florida as a PT.( this may differ from state to state) I have heard of
PT's with 20 yrs experience having to do this and also unpaid ! Some of
my other friends have been refused entry in New Jersey for example due
to not enough maths done in High school! They check even that !!
Then of course there are the state boards to sit before you can be
licensed ( i had already done these in Florida) and then the law &
ethics exam !
Now, there are states offering great packages for foriegn trained PT's
to come to the US but usually in remote places in the middle of nowhere
where they can't hire any US therapists... or where the average daily
temperature is either 110 or the opposite end of the scale ..beware!
Our starting salary 7 yrs ago was $ 35,000 in Florida as new grads but
it has increased in the last while again depending on the State you go
to.
US therapists don't like us foreign trained therapists coming over ! I
chuckle when I read the US therapists complaining that we are taking
their jobs... they are predicting a big surplus of US PT's in the next
few yrs so it's probably going to be more difficult to get here...I
don't think they realise how hard it is for us "foreigners" to get into
the US...
The last I heard, California has raised the credentialling requirements
so much that it's virtually impossible to get into this state even with
yrs and yrs of experience so I count myself lucky to have made it !
So ...I hope this info will be of some help & not to discouraging and
good luck !!
Best regards
Mags
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