Physical therapists: helping people improve mobility.

• Author: Stomierowski, Peg
• Position: HEALTH & MEDICINE

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Jason Gillam has been a physical therapist for more than five years and works for the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Palmer at its Outpatient Center in Wasilla. Every couple of months, he works on-site at the Medical Center, covering a weekend inpatient shift.

Gillam, 31, was inspired to become a physical therapist after he visited a physical therapist himself for sports injuries--a bad ankle and torn knee ligament--when he was in high school.

"I saw him sitting there, watching me work hard," he said, and "I thought, "I can do that!'"

While Gillam smiles at the memory, he's serious about how much the services of a professional physical therapist assisted in his recovery.

IN DEMAND PROFESSIONALS

The American Physical Therapy Association, a professional group with headquarters in Virginia, represents 72,000 members. In Alaska and in many locations elsewhere, recruitment sources suggest physical therapists and their trained assistants are in demand, with some medical institutions sweetening the pot by offering sign-on bonuses ($10,000 for a two-year commitment, for instance, or $7,500 for a single year) and help with educational loan repayment.

Physical therapists, assisted by physical therapy assistants under their supervision, diagnose and treat people who come to them (a physician's referral is not required in Alaska) for conditions that may limit their ability to move freely and/or function effectively in their daily lives without pain, soreness, stiffness or disability. As a profession, they collectively stress their role in improving mobility.

About 630 physical therapists and 66 physical therapist assistants are registered in Alaska, according to Connie Petz, physical and occupational therapy licensing examiner for the State, with about 425 physical therapists and 48 assistants giving Alaska addresses. Sundi Hondl, for four years president of the Alaska Physical Therapy Association, said the statewide group has almost 300 members, including 33 physical therapist assistants.

DIVERSITY OF SETTINGS

A physical therapist since 1988, she'd always been interested in sports medicine and helping people, Hondl reflected. She specialized in orthopedic clinic services and in 1996 opened Excel Physical Therapy Clinic, serving Palmer and Wasilla.

Besides private clinics, physical therapists like her and Gillam work in a diversity of settings, including hospitals and wellness centers, skilled nursing facilities, home health...