Clinical ladder programs afford PTs and PTAs opportunities to advance their careers and enhance their paychecks while remaining in direct patient care.

"The clinical side of physical therapy is something I never wish to leave," says Julie Rimel, PT, DPT, CLT, clinic director of Inova Physical Therapy Center–Woodbridge in Northern Virginia. "Treating patients is absolutely the highlight and joy of my day."

She credits Inova's senior clinical ladder program, which she now chairs, for helping to make her a better clinician in ways that also have benefited her employer and, most important, the patients and clients she serves. Clinical ladders and related programs outline the skills and attributes needed to rise through the ranks of an organization while continuing to provide direct patient care. Satisfying her program's requirements to attain the title of senior clinician required that Rimel sharpen not only her clinical skills, she says, but also her understanding of the "back side" of physical therapy—the health insurance requirements, billing procedures, and administrative demands that are part and parcel of being a physical therapist (PT) in 2016.