Physiotherapy education is a good financial investment, up to a certain level of student debt: an inter-professional economic analysis

Questions: What is the economic value of a physiotherapy career relative to other healthcare professions? Is the graduate debt reported for physiotherapy manageable according to recommended salary-weighted debt service ratio benchmarks? Design: Net present value (NPV) is an economic modelling approach that compares costs and benefits of an investment such as healthcare education. An economic analysis using the NPV approach was conducted and reported in US dollars for the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. Comparable calculations were made for a range of other healthcare qualifications. Debt service ratios were also calculated under a range of scenarios. Outcome measures: Entry-level salaries and rate of salary growth were obtained from government databases. Student debt levels were obtained from published sources. Because no national estimate exists for physical therapy student debt, debt was modelled for recent Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) graduates and for several hypothetical debt tiers. The NPV modelled future physical therapy earnings less the cost of education and the opportunity cost of foregone earnings from alternate careers. Results: At the debt level reported by recent graduates (US $86 563), physical therapy NPV was higher than occupational therapy, optometry, veterinary medicine, and chiropractic but lower than dentistry, pharmacy, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, and all medical specialties. At $150 000 debt, physical therapy NPV falls below all careers except veterinary medicine and chiropractic. Students with > $200 000 debt may not achieve recommended repayment benchmarks. At high debt levels (> $266 000), physical therapy NPV no longer exceeds that of a bachelor’s degree. Conclusion: Physiotherapy education is a good financial investment, up to a certain level of student debt. Students should carefully consider the amount of debt they are willing to incur in order to pursue a physiotherapy career. Likewise, physiotherapy education programs should consider the role they may play in bolstering the economic value of their graduates’ future careers. [Shields RK, Dudley-Javoroski S (2018) Physiotherapy education is a good financial investment, up to a certain level of student debt: an inter-professional economic analysis. Journal of Physiotherapy 64: 182–190] Key words: Economic models, Cost analysis, Health occupations, Allied health occupations, Students