Factors physical therapists use to make career decisions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors physical therapists use to make career choices. A questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 500 clinicians. The results of this study indicate that salary was the most important factor cited by clinicians for selecting their present position and for remaining in their present position, as well as the principal motivator that would induce them to consider leaving their present position. Unless salaries are raised in academe and in the traditional settings of acute care hospitals and rehabilitation centers, recruitment of clinicians in the future will be difficult.