Therapy Jobs & Careers
Therapy careers — physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), speech-language pathology (SLP), and respiratory therapy (RT) — restore function, support independence, and improve quality of life across the lifespan and across virtually every practice setting in U.S. healthcare.
The Medical.Careers therapy hub aggregates active openings, structures the specialty around the way clinicians actually think about it, and pairs job search with editorial context on compensation, scope of practice, and outlook. Listings come through credentialed channels in the MedicalRecruiting.com network, which means lower exposure to expired postings, duplicate listings, and non-credentialed staffing fronts than on broad horizontal job sites.
What Therapy Professionals Do
Physical therapists evaluate and treat movement and musculoskeletal dysfunction across orthopedic, neurologic, cardiopulmonary, geriatric, pediatric, and sports populations. Occupational therapists focus on the activities of daily living and meaningful occupations, often working with neurological recovery, hand therapy, pediatrics, and mental health populations. Speech-language pathologists treat speech, language, swallowing, voice, and cognitive-communication disorders across pediatric and adult populations. Respiratory therapists manage ventilators, deliver bronchodilator therapy, run pulmonary diagnostics, and provide critical airway management.
Roles in Therapy
- Outpatient orthopedic PT
- Inpatient acute and rehab PT
- Home health PT
- Pediatric PT
- Neurologic PT
- Hand and upper-extremity OT
- School-based OT
- Pediatric OT and early intervention
- Mental health OT
- Acute care SLP
- Schools-based SLP
- Pediatric feeding SLP
- Voice and swallowing SLP (FEES)
- Acute care and ICU respiratory therapist
- Neonatal respiratory therapist
- Pulmonary diagnostics
Travel and contract therapy assignments are well-established across all four disciplines.
Therapy Compensation
Physical therapist compensation typically ranges $80,000–$110,000, with home health, travel, and senior outpatient roles often higher. Occupational therapists range $80,000–$105,000. Speech-language pathologists range $80,000–$105,000, with medical SLP and FEES-credentialed roles at the upper end. Respiratory therapists range $70,000–$100,000, with NICU and travel contracts higher. Lead, manager, and clinic-owner therapists earn meaningfully more.
When you evaluate any specific therapy opening on Medical.Careers, look beyond base salary to the full economic picture: productivity bonus structure, signing and retention bonuses, retirement match and vesting, malpractice type and tail coverage, CME allowance, license and credential reimbursement, paid time off, and the schedule itself. Two roles with similar base compensation can differ by 20–40 percent in total economic value once these terms are factored in.
Outlook for Therapy Careers
Therapy demand remains strong across all disciplines. PT and OT face structural shortages in home health, skilled nursing, and rural outpatient settings. SLP demand is especially strong in schools and in medical SLP. Respiratory therapy remains in chronic shortage following workforce losses during and after the pandemic, with NICU, ICU, and travel contracts particularly high-paying.
How to Apply to Therapy Jobs on Medical.Careers
Most Medical.Careers listings include a direct apply button that submits your application to the employer or recruiting partner. Have a current CV or resume ready that lists your active state licensure, board certifications and life-support credentials as applicable, DEA registration where relevant, and a concise summary of clinical experience by setting and patient population. For physician and advanced practice therapy roles, expect early conversations to cover practice fit, schedule expectations, geographic flexibility, compensation range, and timing. Credentialing and privileging usually run in parallel with offer negotiation and can take 60 to 120 days; plan your start date accordingly.
Tips for Therapy Job Seekers
- Be specific. Replace generic phrases like "managed clinical care" with concrete patient volumes, procedure counts, and case mix relevant to therapy practice.
- Be reachable. Confirm your contact information is current and check email frequently — hiring teams move fast and often lose interest when candidates take more than a few days to reply.
- Be realistic about geography. If you are flexible, say so explicitly. If you are not, be clear about why so the recruiter does not waste time on the wrong roles.
- Be honest about timing. Non-competes, contract end dates, and licenses still in process are easier to plan around early than to surface late.
- Ask for the contract early. A written contract enables substantive negotiation; verbal offers often paper over terms that matter.
Above all, treat your therapy job search as a structured process. Track which roles you have applied to, when you followed up, what compensation range was discussed, and what the contract terms looked like. The clinicians who get the best outcomes are almost always the ones who keep good notes, move quickly when the right opportunity appears, and walk away from offers that do not match their priorities.
Frequently Asked Questions About Therapy Careers
What is the entry-level degree for each therapy discipline?
PT requires a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT). OT typically requires an OTD or MOT (transitioning to OTD). SLP requires a master's (MS or MA) plus the Clinical Fellowship Year. RT typically requires an associate or bachelor's degree plus the RRT credential.
Are therapy travel contracts available?
Yes. PT, OT, SLP, and RT all have established travel markets with weekly compensation often well above permanent equivalents in shortage specialties and geographies.
Can therapists own their own practice?
Yes. PT and OT clinic ownership is well-established. SLP private practice is common in pediatric outpatient. RT is typically employed in hospital and post-acute settings rather than private practice.
Is Medical.Careers free to use for healthcare candidates?
Yes. Medical.Careers is completely free for clinicians, advanced practice providers, allied health professionals, behavioral health clinicians, pharmacy professionals, and healthcare administrators. There is no subscription, no paywall on applications, and no required signup to search and apply.
How often are new jobs added in this specialty?
Medical.Careers refreshes job listings continuously throughout each business day. New positions are sourced from credentialed healthcare employers and recruitment partners within the MedicalRecruiting.com network, with stale and filled roles removed automatically.