What’s the difference between a physical therapist & a personal trainer?

Both have similar roles that may overlap, such as focusing on health and wellness; however, there are differences in career path and credentials.

In the United States, a physical therapist is a medical profession. Their credentials are 7 years' worth of schooling. That means 4 years in undergraduate and 3 years of graduate school. That is if this individual had all the pre-medical pre-requisite classes and didn’t change majors or come back from a different career path. If someone was a physical therapist, their titles would be John Doe, PT, DPT. PT, DPT refers to “physical therapy,” and ‘dpt’ refers to “doctorate of physical therapy.”

Outside of the United States, physical therapists are referred to as “physiotherapists.” They aren’t doctoral degrees but rather either bachelor's or master's degrees.

Physical therapists are covered by medical insurance. They can work in hospitals, corporations, and private practices or businesses. They can also diagnose and have different specialties.

A personal trainer doesn’t need to have a university degree. All they need is a certification. There are numerous certifications, such as the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), the American Council on Exercise (ACE), and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). The CSCS certification is the only one that requires you to have a university degree, regardless of what the major is; however, in 2029 they will be changing this to kinesiology degree majors or kinesiology/pre-med majors only.

Since personal trainers aren’t medical professionals, we cannot diagnose pain or perform manual therapy on someone. Also, we cannot prescribe diets or meal plans, since that’s reserved for Registered Dietitians (R.D.) Unless the personal trainer has a license as an R.D., then they cannot prescribe meals plans, as it is outside of our legal scope of practice.