How to read this physical therapist resume example
The sample above is not a template to copy word for word - copied resumes read as copied. It is here to show the shape of a page that gets past a first screen: one column, standard headings, and bullets that end in an outcome rather than a duty. Licence, caseload, and functional outcomes your patients actually reached.
- Every bullet opens with a verb and carries a number. That is the pattern, not a coincidence.
- The summary makes a claim and then supports it in the first bullet underneath.
- Skills are named tools, not adjectives, and each one appears again in the experience section.
- The earlier role is short. Recent work carries the weight of the page.
The numbers in a physical therapist resume
The most common thing missing from a physical therapist resume is a number. Not because the work had none, but because nobody wrote them down at the time. These are the measures a physical therapist can usually reach for, and the example uses them.
- Treated a caseload of 12 patients a day in an outpatient orthopaedic clinic.
- Returned 85% of post-surgical knee patients to full function within their target timeline.
- Built the home exercise programme that lifted patient adherence from 45% to 78%.
Before and after: rewriting a weak bullet
Most physical therapist resumes are one edit away from being much stronger, and the edit is the same every time: replace the description of the job with the result of doing it. The pairs below are the same work, written twice.
- Weak: "Responsible for patient evaluation and related tasks." Strong: "Treated a caseload of 12 patients a day in an outpatient orthopaedic clinic."
- Weak: "Worked on treatment planning projects across the team." Strong: "Returned 85% of post-surgical knee patients to full function within their target timeline."
- Weak: "Helped improve processes and supported physical therapist initiatives." Strong: "Built the home exercise programme that lifted patient adherence from 45% to 78%."
Adapting the example to your own history
Work backwards from the posting. Find the two or three things it actually screens for, then make sure the top third of your page answers them. Everything below that is supporting evidence.
- Reorder your bullets so the one closest to the posting comes first in each role.
- Rewrite the summary for the specific job. It is the only part a human reliably reads.
- Cut any skill you would not want to be asked about for ten minutes.
- Keep Patient evaluation, Treatment planning, Manual therapy visible in context, not stranded in a list.