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Physical Therapist Resume 2026 - DPT, licensure and setting-specific sample free

Антон Литвинов
Антон Литвинов Founder, AI Resume Master
in 𝕏
Published: 25.09.2026 Updated: 25.09.2026

A physical therapist resume is read by a clinic director or a rehab manager who has a caseload waiting and a productivity target to hit. She wants to know your licence state and status, the setting you have actually worked in, and whether you can carry a full schedule while keeping documentation defensible. Those three answers decide the interview. Outpatient orthopedics, acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, skilled nursing, home health and pediatrics are genuinely different jobs with different evaluation patterns, different documentation systems and different pace, and a resume that reads as generic physical therapy reads as none of them. Below is a full US sample that puts DPT and licensure where a recruiter will find them, writes evaluations and plans of care as outcomes rather than duties, and handles the productivity question honestly.

What you get

  • A complete physical therapist resume sample
  • 3 PDF templates
  • A formula for writing caseload and outcomes with numbers
  • 6 mistakes that cost physical therapists interviews
Create resume → 5 minutes - AI suggestions - ATS friendly
Ready sample

Physical therapist resume sample

The structure a rehab manager can read between patients: DPT and state licence first, setting and caseload second, outcomes and documentation third.

DPT and licensure in the header

Degree, state of licensure, status and licence year, plus any compact or second-state licence. Health systems credential before they schedule, and a resume that makes this hard to find gets set aside.

Setting named, not implied

Outpatient orthopedics, acute care, inpatient rehab, skilled nursing, home health, pediatrics. Each one implies a different evaluation volume, a different documentation burden and a different physical day. Say which.

Caseload and outcomes in numbers

Patients a day, evaluations a week, visits per episode, discharge outcomes, functional measures used. This is the part most PT resumes skip, and it is the part that separates you from the pile.

ATS friendly

Hospital systems and large outpatient groups parse through Workday, iCIMS or Taleo before a human reads. Single column, standard headings, no photo, no tables, and licensure written in plain text the parser will capture.

Sample resume text

Use it as a reference: keep the structure and wording, put in your own facts and numbers.

Erin Kowalski

Physical Therapist, DPT
Seattle, WA
erin.kowalski.dpt@example.com
(206) 555-0163
linkedin.com/in/example

Profile

DPT licensed in Washington with 5 years in outpatient orthopedics and 2 years of prior acute care. Carries 12-14 patients a day including 3-4 initial evaluations, with post-operative shoulder, ACL reconstruction and persistent low back caseloads. Manual therapy, blood flow restriction and criteria-based return-to-sport testing; outcomes tracked with the LEFS and Oswestry, documented same-day in WebPT. Cut average visits per episode from 14 to 11 with discharge outcome scores held steady.

Experience

Physical Therapist2022 - present

Puget Sound Orthopedic and Sports Therapy, Seattle, WA

  • Carry 12-14 patients a day including 3-4 initial evaluations in a post-surgical and sports caseload across a 6-therapist clinic
  • Introduced criteria-based return-to-sport testing for ACL reconstruction, cutting average visits per episode from 14 to 11 while discharge LEFS scores held steady
  • Direct 2 PTAs and serve as clinical instructor for 3 DPT students a year, all of whom carried independent caseloads by the final third of the affiliation
  • Documented same-day for 3 consecutive years; the clinic passed a Medicare Part B documentation review with no repayment findings
Physical Therapist2020 - 2022

Cascade Regional Hospital, acute care and inpatient rehab, Tacoma, WA

  • Treated 10-12 acute care patients a day across medical-surgical, ICU and orthopedic floors, including early mobilisation with lines and drains
  • Wrote discharge recommendations in interdisciplinary rounds for about 25 patients a week, with recommendation-to-placement agreement above 90%
  • Helped implement an early mobility protocol on the surgical floor that reduced average time to first ambulation after joint replacement by roughly a day
Physical Therapist, Clinical Rotations2019 - 2020

Terminal affiliations, outpatient orthopedics and skilled nursing, WA and OR

  • Carried an independent caseload of 10-12 patients a day by week 8 of a 12-week outpatient orthopedic affiliation
  • Delivered an in-service on blood flow restriction training to a 9-person rehab team

Education

University of Washington, Seattle, WA2017 - 2020

Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), CAPTE-accredited programme

Skills

Initial evaluation and differential screeningPlan of care and goal writingManual therapy and joint mobilizationPost-operative protocols (ACL, rotator cuff, TKA)Blood flow restriction trainingGait and balance assessmentOutcome measures: LEFS, Oswestry, TUG, BergWebPT and Epic Rehab documentationCPT timed codes and the 8-minute ruleDirecting PTAs and clinical instruction

Licensure and certifications

  • Licensed Physical Therapist, State of Washington - active since 2020
  • Board Certified Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist (OCS), ABPTS - 2024
  • Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), NSCA - 2021
  • BLS for Healthcare Providers, American Heart Association - current

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Profile

Physical therapist profile summary

Four lines: years licensed, setting, patient population, the manual and exercise approaches you actually use, the documentation system, and one outcome with a number. A clinic director reads this and decides whether your caseload experience matches hers.

A new graduate writes the same paragraph from clinical rotations. Full-time terminal affiliations are real practice: say the setting, the weeks, the caseload you carried by the end, and what you were independent on. 'Passionate about helping patients reach their goals' says nothing that the degree did not already say.

WeakDedicated and compassionate physical therapist committed to helping patients improve mobility and quality of life. Seeking a rewarding position in a supportive clinic where I can make a difference.
StrongDPT, licensed physical therapist in Washington, 5 years in outpatient orthopedics. Carries 12-14 patients a day including 3-4 evaluations, with post-operative shoulder, ACL reconstruction and chronic low back caseloads. Uses manual therapy, blood flow restriction and graded exposure for persistent pain, tracks outcomes with FOTO and the LEFS, and documents in WebPT. Average visits per episode down from 14 to 11 with no drop in discharge outcome scores.
Tip
Write your licence as state plus status plus year, and name any compact privilege you hold. Multi-site employers filter on this line first, and a recruiter who has to guess whether you can start in her state will move on.
Skills

Physical therapist skills for a resume

Evaluation, treatment and documentation, written so a director can tell what you would do with her hardest patient on Monday morning.

Hard skills

  • Initial evaluation and differential screening, including red flag screening and referral back to the physician
  • Plan of care development, goal writing, progress notes and recertification within payer rules
  • Manual therapy: joint mobilization, soft tissue work, manipulation within state scope, dry needling where credentialed
  • Therapeutic exercise progression and return-to-sport or return-to-work criteria
  • Post-operative protocols: ACL reconstruction, rotator cuff repair, total knee and total hip arthroplasty
  • Neurological rehabilitation: gait training, balance and vestibular assessment, transfer and mobility training
  • Standardised outcome measures: LEFS, DASH, Oswestry, Berg Balance Scale, TUG, 6-minute walk test
  • Gait analysis, orthotic and assistive device selection and fitting
  • Electronic documentation and scheduling: WebPT, Epic Rehab, Raintree, Net Health
  • Billing and compliance basics: CPT timed codes, the 8-minute rule, Medicare Part B documentation requirements

Soft skills

  • Explaining a diagnosis and a prognosis so a patient stops fearing movement
  • Building adherence with someone who will not do a home programme
  • Setting expectations with a post-operative patient whose surgeon promised a faster timeline
  • Saying plainly when therapy is not the right answer and referring on
  • Directing PTAs and rehab aides while keeping responsibility for the plan of care
  • Handling a full schedule and same-day add-ons without cutting evaluation quality
  • Documenting the same day, so notes are defensible and billing is not held up
  • Working with case managers, surgeons and workers compensation adjusters
  • Teaching families a safe transfer before a discharge home
  • Mentoring new graduates and students without taking over their caseload
Experience

How to write physical therapist experience

Formula: setting plus caseload plus population plus outcome. 'Evaluated and treated patients' is what the licence permits, not what you accomplished. Say who, how many, with what approach, and what changed by discharge.

Every setting has a number that proves you can do the job there. Outpatient: patients a day, evaluations a week, visits per episode, cancellation and no-show rate. Acute care: patients a day, discharge recommendations, time to first mobilisation. Skilled nursing and home health: caseload, documentation turnaround, fall rates. Pick the number that matters in the setting you are applying to.

Weak- Evaluated and treated orthopedic patients, developed treatment plans and documented patient progress.
Strong- Carried 12-14 patients a day including 3-4 initial evaluations in a post-surgical orthopedic caseload; introduced criteria-based return-to-sport testing for ACL reconstruction that cut average visits per episode from 14 to 11 while discharge LEFS scores held steady.
What to include
Setting and clinic size - patients a day and evaluations a week - population and diagnoses - outcome measures used - documentation system - PTAs or students you directed.
Education

Education, licensure and certifications

The Doctor of Physical Therapy from a CAPTE-accredited programme is the entry degree, and licensure follows the NPTE and any state jurisprudence exam. Write the degree, the school and the year, then a separate licensure block so a recruiter does not have to hunt for the state.

  • DPT, university, city and graduation year, from a CAPTE-accredited programme
  • State licensure: state, status and year first licensed, plus compact privileges or additional states
  • NPTE passed, with the year, if you are a recent graduate
  • Residency or fellowship credentialed through ABPTRF, with the specialty and site
  • Board certification through ABPTS, such as OCS, SCS, NCS, GCS or PCS, with the year
  • Additional credentials: dry needling certification where your state permits it, CSCS, LSVT BIG, Graston or manual therapy certifications
  • BLS for Healthcare Providers, American Heart Association, with the expiration date
Careful
Do not write 'board certified' without the specialty. ABPTS certifications are specific - OCS, SCS, NCS - and a rehab director reading orthopedics will care which one you hold and whether it is current.
New graduates

Physical therapist resume for a new graduate

New graduate applications look identical on paper: same degree, same licence, same year. The clinical rotations are the only place where you can differ, so write them as jobs. Setting, weeks, caseload, diagnoses, what you were independent on by the end, and anything you delivered beyond patient care.

Say where you are in licensure honestly, because clinic directors plan start dates around it. NPTE date scheduled, results pending, temporary or provisional licence issued where your state offers one - all of it belongs in the header. A director will wait a few weeks for a candidate she likes if she knows the timeline.

  • Clinical rotations as entries: site, setting, weeks, caseload carried by the end, populations treated
  • Licence status: NPTE passed or scheduled, state, expected licence date
  • In-service presentations, case reports or a capstone project delivered to a clinical team
  • PT tech or rehab aide work before the programme, with volume attached
  • Certifications already in hand, such as BLS or CSCS, and any planned specialty training

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Mistakes

Common mistakes

Licence state missing

'Licensed physical therapist' with no state is the most common failure on PT resumes. Recruiters at multi-state employers filter on the state and the status, and a file that does not answer it never reaches the clinic director.

No caseload numbers

Patients a day is the first thing a director wants to know, because it tells her whether you can carry her schedule. A resume with no volume reads as a low-volume clinic, which is not what you want implied.

Treatment lists with no outcomes

'Manual therapy, therapeutic exercise, modalities' describes a toolbox. What changed - visits per episode, return-to-sport rates, discharge outcome scores, falls prevented - is what a director is actually buying.

Ignoring the documentation question

Late notes are the operational problem every rehab manager has. Saying you document same-day, know the 8-minute rule and have survived a payer audit is a genuine differentiator and costs one bullet.

One resume for every setting

Acute care wants mobilisation, lines and tubes, discharge planning and interdisciplinary rounds. Outpatient wants evaluations per week, post-operative protocols and cash-pay or return-to-sport work. Reorder for the posting in front of you.

Design templates and photos

No photo on a US resume, and no sidebars, icons or skill bars. Hospital applicant tracking systems drop them, and the licensure line is exactly the text you cannot afford to lose in a parse.

Takeaways

Takeaways

Remember

  • DPT and state licence in the header
  • Setting named in the first line
  • Patients a day and evaluations a week
  • Outcome measures by name, with results
  • Documentation system and same-day notes
  • One page under ten years, no photo, no tables
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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

In the header and again in a short licensure block: state, status, year first licensed, plus any additional states or a compact privilege if you hold one. If your licence is pending, write the stage - NPTE scheduled, results pending, application submitted - with the expected date. Recruiters at hospital systems and multi-site outpatient groups screen on this before anything else, because they cannot build a start date without it.
Yes, and be specific about what the number means. Patients a day, evaluations a week and visits per episode are concrete and comparable. A raw productivity percentage is not, because every employer calculates it differently and quoting one from a previous job invites a comparison you cannot control. Give the caseload, then give an outcome that shows the caseload did not damage quality.
Different in the first half of the page. Outpatient orthopedics reads evaluation volume, post-operative protocols, manual therapy, return-to-sport testing and episode efficiency. Acute care and inpatient rehabilitation read mobility with lines and drains, discharge recommendations, interdisciplinary rounds and functional independence gains. Home health reads autonomy, OASIS documentation, fall risk reduction, travel between clients and scheduling your own week. Keep a master file and cut a targeted version each time.
As experience entries with everything a job entry carries. 'Outpatient orthopedics, 12-week terminal affiliation, carried an independent caseload of 10-12 patients a day by week 8, post-operative shoulder and knee, documented in WebPT, delivered an in-service on blood flow restriction' is a real entry. A bullet list of rotation sites with no content is why most new graduate resumes read the same.
Yes. An ABPTRF-credentialed residency and an ABPTS specialty certification such as OCS, SCS or NCS are the strongest non-experience signals a PT resume can carry, and they belong in your summary line, not buried in a list. Write the specialty explicitly and keep the year, since certifications are time-limited and a director may check.
Leave pay off the resume and handle it in the recruiter conversation. What moves the rate is consistent: setting, with home health and skilled nursing often paying differently from hospital outpatient, specialty certification, years of independent caseload, willingness to cover rural or hard-to-staff sites, weekend and per diem availability, and productivity you can evidence. Read current postings in your state and setting before you name a range.
One page for under ten years of practice, which covers most clinical applications. Two pages are defensible for academic roles, for a long teaching and publication record, or for a senior leadership application, but the first page must stand alone: licence, setting, caseload and outcomes. For a staff PT job, one page wins.
Yes - the full sample above, and all templates on this page. You can assemble your own resume from any of them in the builder for free and see the result; downloading the finished PDF is paid, by subscription or a one-time payment. The builder keeps the layout ATS safe, which matters because health systems parse your file before a human reads a line of it.
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