Pediatric Physical Therapist

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

Physical Therapy Out

Job Summary:

JOB SUMMARY
Provides physical therapy services to patients who have impairments, functional limitations, disabilities, or changes in physical function and health status resulting from injury, disease or other causes under occasional guidance. Actively collaborates with the health care/educational team to meet patient care, outcomes and system improvement objectives.

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Pediatric Physical Therapist

Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt

Doctors' Office Tower & Children's Hospital Coverage | Nashville, TN

Discover Vanderbilt Health

At Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, our Pediatric Rehabilitation team is dedicated to helping children and families achieve their highest level of function and independence. We provide specialized care to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults with a wide range of developmental, neurological, orthopedic, and medically complex conditions.

We are seeking an experienced Pediatric Physical Therapist to join a collaborative team that values clinical excellence, innovation, teamwork, and compassionate, family-centered care.

Love Variety? This May Be the Pediatric PT Role You've Been Looking For.

This is not your typical pediatric therapy position.

The therapist in this role will primarily provide care within specialty outpatient clinics located in the Doctors' Office Tower while occasionally supporting inpatient rehabilitation needs within Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital.

From developmental delays and orthopedic conditions to complex neurological diagnoses such as spina bifida and cerebral palsy, this position offers broad clinical exposure across multiple pediatric specialties and care settings.

If you're the type of therapist who enjoys learning something new every day, collaborating with specialty teams, and serving as a trusted resource wherever patients need you most, you'll thrive in this role.

What Makes This Role Unique?

• Diverse pediatric caseload with exposure to neurological, developmental, orthopedic, and medically complex diagnoses

• Primarily outpatient practice with occasional inpatient coverage opportunities

• Collaboration with nationally recognized pediatric specialists across multiple disciplines

• Exposure to a broad continuum of pediatric care and specialty services

• Flexible work environment supporting multiple clinic locations and care teams

• Strong interdisciplinary partnerships with physicians, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, nurses, social workers, and rehabilitation colleagues

• Opportunities to develop expertise in complex pediatric neurological conditions

• A dynamic role where no two days look exactly the same

Position Summary

This Pediatric Physical Therapist evaluates and treats pediatric patients with impairments, functional limitations, disabilities, or changes in physical function resulting from injury, disease, congenital conditions, developmental disorders, and complex medical diagnoses.

The therapist develops individualized treatment plans, provides evidence-based physical therapy interventions, collaborates with multidisciplinary care teams, and serves as an advocate for children and families throughout the rehabilitation journey.

Ideal Candidate

We're seeking a highly adaptable pediatric therapist who enjoys both variety and complexity.

The ideal candidate will:

• Have experience working with pediatric populations in outpatient and/or hospital settings

• Demonstrate strong clinical reasoning and independent decision-making skills

• Thrive in collaborative, fast-paced environments

• Enjoy supporting multiple specialty programs and interdisciplinary teams

• Be flexible and willing to float between clinic locations and occasional inpatient coverage needs

Required Qualifications

• Graduate of an accredited Physical Therapy program

• Current Tennessee Physical Therapist licensure or eligibility for Tennessee licensure

• Current BLS certification or ability to obtain within established timeframe

• Ability to perform comprehensive evaluations and develop individualized treatment plans

• Strong communication, collaboration, and patient/family education skills

• Commitment to evidence-based practice and patient-centered care

Preferred Clinical Experience

Particular interest will be given to candidates with experience in:

• Spina bifida

• Cerebral palsy

• Developmental delay

• Neuromuscular disorders

• Genetic and congenital conditions

• Medically complex pediatric populations

• Mobility and gait disorders

• Orthopedic diagnoses

• Seating, positioning, and adaptive equipment recommendations

• Assistive technology and mobility devices

• Family-centered care and caregiver education

Key Responsibilities

• Perform comprehensive physical therapy evaluations and establish individualized plans of care

• Provide evidence-based interventions that improve mobility, strength, balance, coordination, endurance, and functional independence

• Collaborate with physicians and multidisciplinary care teams to optimize patient outcomes

• Educate patients and caregivers regarding treatment strategies, goals, and home programs

• Recommend adaptive equipment, orthotics, and mobility devices when appropriate

• Maintain accurate and timely clinical documentation

• Support patient care across multiple outpatient specialty clinics and occasional inpatient rehabilitation settings

• Participate in departmental initiatives focused on quality, safety, and professional development

Why Vanderbilt Health?

Where Expert Physical Therapists Make Their Greatest Impact

At Vanderbilt Health, our therapists are advocates first. Every treatment plan, every visit, and every interaction is guided by what's best for the child and family. We believe exceptional patient care is built on compassion, collaboration, clinical expertise, and a commitment to helping every patient achieve their fullest potential.

As a Pediatric Physical Therapist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital, you'll work alongside nationally recognized pediatric specialists and multidisciplinary teams caring for some of the region's most complex and inspiring patients.

Innovation, Excellence & Impact

Vanderbilt Health continues to advance the future of medicine through groundbreaking patient care, innovative multidisciplinary programs, and record-setting pediatric transplant achievements. These milestones reflect our commitment to collaboration, clinical excellence, and exceptional outcomes for children and families.

Nationally recognized for quality, safety, innovation, and patient-centered care, Vanderbilt Health offers therapists the opportunity to grow professionally while making a meaningful difference every day.

More Than a Job

At Vanderbilt Health, you'll find a workplace where your voice matters, your growth is encouraged, and your expertise is valued.

We support one another like family, challenge each other to be better, and never lose sight of why we're here: improving the lives of children and families, one patient at a time.

If you're a pediatric therapist who loves variety, embraces complexity, and is passionate about delivering exceptional patient-centered care, we'd love to meet you.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Analyzes comprehensive information from formal and informal assessment that is pertinent to the patient's care and management to determine a rehabilitation treatment diagnosis.
• Collaborates with stakeholders in establishing the plan of care, coordinates and implements care delivery while anticipating patient care needs across the rehabilitation continuum.
• Applies appropriate, evidence-based interventions to ensure effective outcomes and re-evaluates performance to assess patient's progress towards goals.
• Employs strategies to promote successful return to home, community, and school/vocational environments.
• The responsibilities listed are a general overview of the position and additional duties may be assigned.

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES
• Treatment Planning & Goal Setting (Novice): Demonstrates sufficient proficiency in developing a plan of care that incorporates treatment interventions focused on meeting objective goals. Develops and documents patient focused short and long term goals that are functional and measurable. Identifies the need for and referral to other services, as needed.
• Rehabilitation Therapist Patient Evaluation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in evaluating patients with physical deficits including impairments, developmental disabilities, functional limitations, disabilities, or changes in physical function by obtaining information pertinent to the assessment and administering and scoring standardized tests and objective measures of deficit areas. Selects appropriate measures and performs a functional assessment to document patient's status requiring skilled therapy. Interprets the results of the assessment and their significance to the patient, family, referring physician and other members of the health care team.
• Treatment Implementation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in providing treatment consistent with physician prescription and established plan of care. Able to modify treatment plan as needed to demonstrate provision of skilled therapy services including progression of treatment throughout course of care, and revision of treatment interventions of goals not met. May supervise and direct certified athletic trainers (PT only), physical therapist / occupational therapist assistants, technicians and volunteers and students. Selects and follows correct protocol for care and utilize evidence based treatments. Has completed at least one year of clinical experience in treatment implementation.
• Rehab Therapist Patient Documentation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in documentation practices. Documents in the appropriate templates and utilizes only approved abbreviations within patient documentation. Meets institutional standards for quality and timeliness of documentation.
• Physical/Occupational Therapist Patient Education (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in communicating functional impact of assessment findings, treatment interventions, treatment planning diagnosis, and disease process. Considers the communication needs/level of understanding of audience and may share appropriate information/literature. May supervise, educate and train students from professional programs of physical therapy, occupational therapy and athletic training.

Allied health is among the fastest growing occupations in healthcare today. This area can be defined as credentialed professionals who perform supportive, diagnostic, and therapeutic health care services to promote health and prevent disease in a variety of settings.

These areas are crucial to Vanderbilt Health’s reputation for excellence in these areas that has made us a major center for patient referrals from throughout the Mid-South.

Each year, people throughout Tennessee and the southeast choose Vanderbilt Health for their health care because of our leadership in medical science and our dedication to treating patients with dignity and compassion.

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Core Accountabilities:

Organizational Impact: Executes job responsibilities with the understanding of how output would affect and impact other areas related to own job area/team with occasional guidance. Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Analyzes moderately complex problems using technical experience and judgment. Breadth of Knowledge: Has expanded knowledge gained through experience within a professional area. Team Interaction: Provides informal guidance and support to team members.

Core Capabilities :

Supporting Colleagues:- Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance e and gain knowledge in new areas.- Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships.- Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences. Delivering Excellent Services:- Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them.- Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions.- Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness. Ensuring High Quality: - Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly.- Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them. - Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring. Managing Resources Effectively: - Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure.- Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area.- Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities. Fostering Innovation:- Generates New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches.- Applies Technology: Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short-term challenges.- Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of emphasizing negative elements.

Position Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Certifications:

LIC-Physical Therapy License - Tennessee

Work Experience:

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level :

1 year

Education:

Bachelor's

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact within Vanderbilt Health, supported by a comprehensive benefits package which may include health, disability, retirement and/or wellness offerings to enhance your well-being and professional growth.

Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity.  EOE/Vets/Disabled.