receptionist/administrative assistant

physical therapist assistant

clinic manager

FIRST STEP THERAPY

A typical day at work:
A typical day involved providing speech therapy services to a pediatric caseload across various settings, completing documentation, and collaborating with families and other providers. Scheduling could be flexible, but often required adaptability due to changes and cancellations. Cancellations were not always consistently filled, and clinicians often had to actively advocate for their schedules to be maintained. This appeared to be related to the high workload placed on scheduling and front desk staff, which at times seemed unsustainable.

What you believe you learned:
I strengthened my clinical skills in pediatric speech-language therapy, including working with a variety of communication needs such as expressive/receptive language, articulation, and AAC. I also learned the importance of advocating for clear communication, consistency, and accountability within a workplace.

Management:
Management varied in responsiveness. While some efforts were made to address concerns, there were ongoing challenges with communication, follow-through, and transparency....particularly regarding payroll and benefits. Explanations provided for payroll delays often lacked clarity and appeared repetitive, which made it difficult to feel confident in the consistency and reliability of compensation.

Workplace culture:
Coworkers were collaborative, supportive, and genuinely enjoyed working with one another and with the children. However, overall staff morale was low, and there has been significant turnover, largely related to ongoing payroll issues and unresolved compensation concerns.

Opportunities for advancement:
There are opportunities for advancement within the company; however, these roles often involve inheriting existing systemic issues and working to resolve ongoing challenges. Without adequate structural support, this can lead to increased workload and a higher risk of burnout.

The hardest part of the job:
The most challenging aspect was the ongoing pattern of payroll delays and unresolved benefits concerns, which created uncertainty and made long-term sustainability difficult.

The most enjoyable part of the job:
The most rewarding part was working with the children and their families, building meaningful relationships, and seeing client progress over time.

The work with clients was meaningful, and the children were the most rewarding part of the role.

I worked at the Leesburg location and left due to PERSISTENT operational and payroll issues. Pay was REPEATEDLY LATE AND OR INCORRECT and required ongoing follow-up to resolve. Some required meetings and trainings were not consistently compensated.

Staff were expected to be on-site, on time, and available for sessions even when clients were late or absent. This time was not paid. Staff were also expected to handle cleaning responsibilities, during treatment hours or outside of paid time.

Facility conditions were POOR,  including maintenance and safety concerns that were not addressed promptly OR EVER. For example, lighting fixtures in treatment areas remained in disrepair for an extended period.

Operational processes and expectations changed frequently, with limited consistency or follow-through. Concerns raised by staff were not consistently resolved, which made day-to-day expectations unclear. MANAGEMENT is unapproachable and ignored staff concerns. 

Turnover across roles, including RBTs and other clinical staff, was high during my time there and impacted continuity.

Overall, while the direct work with clients was rewarding, administrative and operational issues made the role difficult to sustain.

Recap: Repeated payroll issues, unpaid time expectations, inconsistent operations, high turnover, unpleasant leadership


-Assisting and managing with work facility and office operations,	responsible for the control flow of the office.
-I learned how to manage medical office reception, how to interact with clients, learned about health insurance companies.
-Managing all front desk activities.
-Co-workers are very nice in a professional manner, very savvy and polite.
-My hardest part of the job is to keep focus on multiply things at one time, like working in a very fast-paced environment while being multitasking on a multiply line phone and at the same time having physical conversation with a client. 
-The most enjoyable part of the job is overall the job that I am doing, even though it can be sometimes challenging but it teaches me a lot of new interesting things, and I love working with people and help them meet their wants and needs.

The days became repetitive and the kids and staff both got over doing the same things every day. There was too many superiors to go to with the chain of command and they all weren’t privy to the same information which made it difficult to get a definite answer. Management was alright, didn’t get a lot of guidance and each rbt wasn’t taught to do things the same when running tasks which makes it tough. Some new RBTs were left on their own to learn how do deal with maladaptive behaviors without any guidance. Working with the kids was fun and seeing how excited the parents got when you’d tell them what achievements their kid made for the day. 

Overall this company has been very good to me they hired me when I was out of a job so I appreciate this greatly. They're really good about listening to your situation and how you want to schedule. I really think they're a people person company and that only are they looking out for you they're looking out for the clients as well so this is a good situation.

Don’t work here unless you enjoy burn-out, favoritism from management, unrealistic deadlines, and a high school level of drama. Not to mention the insane amount of work you have to do off the clock, unpaid, just to meet productivity. I did not earn a bachelors degree to help children communicate for $28 an hour or to work for free on my time off. 

At first you would expect the benefits of what this company has to offer and how you would represent it. Well I was never given a badge nor a uniform when I started. I was never compensated for the work that I have done with full effort. Someone snitched at me I was terminated on the spot. 

I enjoy my job and all my coworkers. Everyone gets along pretty well and we help each other out. I wish the company would invest more in making the clinic look nice and getting things that we need. Another thing that is not great is PTO. It is hard to earn.  Management is helpful and wants to help you. Hours are good if you put in the work. I would recommend working here.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Nothing but the coworkers. Everything else is horrible

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Everything. Management doesnt listen to anything you say. They dont even buy essential things for the clients and have to think about it

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
There is no work culture. Its all about money.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Receptionist/administrative assistant 1 salary reported	$13.50 per hour
Physical therapist assistant 1 salary reported	$38.00 per hour
Clinic manager 1 salary reported	$82,921 per year

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