Physical Therapist Aides
Under close supervision of a physical therapist or physical therapy assistant, perform only delegated, selected, or routine tasks in specific situations. These duties include preparing the patient and the treatment area.
48,150 people do this job in the US. $35,240 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 18%
- 7%
- 75%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 3%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 18%. Today's estimate: 18%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 19 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instruct, motivate, safeguard, or assist patients practicing exercises or functional activities, under direction of medical staff.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 13% | 25 min13 min to 42 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean and organize work area and disinfect equipment after treatment.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 12% | 17 min8 min to 29 min | Stays with people | |
| Administer active or passive manual therapeutic exercises, therapeutic massage, or heat, light, sound, water, or electrical modality treatments, such as ultrasound.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 9% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Perform clerical duties, such as taking inventory, ordering supplies, answering telephone, taking messages, or filling out forms.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 9% | 21 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Observe patients during treatment to compile and evaluate data on patients' responses and progress and report to physical therapist.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 17 min8 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Confer with physical therapy staff or others to discuss and evaluate patient information for planning, modifying, or coordinating treatment.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 17 min8 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Schedule patient appointments with physical therapists and coordinate therapists' schedules.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Maintain equipment or furniture to keep it in good working condition, including performing the assembly or disassembly of equipment or accessories.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Change linens, such as bed sheets and pillow cases.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Transport patients to and from treatment areas, using wheelchairs or providing standing support.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Arrange treatment supplies to keep them in order.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min8 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Secure patients into or onto therapy equipment.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).