Just about everyone has some sort of ailment. Whether it's the athlete with a sore knee, a worker with a sore back or an aging person battling arthritis. And many people have the need for a physical therapist.

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Many physical therapists work with other health care professionals in hospitals and rehabilitation centers, assessing patients recovering from injury and helping implement treatment and prevention programs. Others work in community health, helping deliver rehabilitative care in the home or screening and evaluating children in schools.

Helping people avoid injury is becoming a larger part of the physical therapy field, says Paul Toporek, owner of Ontario Physical Therapy. "The primary focus of PT in the past was rehabilitation,'' he says. "Now, more and more, physical therapists are working to educate people.''

More physical therapists are working in industry, consulting with employers and employees about the physical requirements for specific jobs, identifying potentially hazardous work practices, and teaching workers ways to avoid job-related injuries.

Toporek says physical therapists' role in the workplace has just begun to grow this decade as companies realize the cost savings associated with workplace injury rehabilitation and prevention. "It is saving money and getting people back to work quicker,'' he says.

The need for companies to keep people from missing work due to injury has grown as many jobs become more technically oriented. "You can't just get any person off the street to do many jobs now,'' Toporek says. "It is more important for the employer to keep those people at work.''

Many physical therapists gain certification in specialties such as: cardiopulmonary, which focuses on the cardiac and pulmonary organ systems; geriatric, concerned with problems associated with aging; and orthopaedic, which handles actual and potential dysfunction of physical movement.

Toporek said a certain number of hours of clinical experience and additional exams are required to become certified.

According to Toporek, the minimum requirement by 2000 will be a master's degree in physical therapy from an accredited college program. Following graduation, candidates must pass an examination to become licensed in the state in which they plan to practice.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates the median salary in 1996 for full-time physical therapists was about $37,500 per year.