Career advice: Physical therapist

Chris Kudlik, 29, of St. James, works in the neurological rehab department of North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System's Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.

Why did you go into this field?

I guess it's the complexity of patients. You are treating not just a specific impairment, you are treating the whole patient and . . . the family as well. When people come to this setting they are going through the worst time in their lives. It's a privilege because they are coming to you to help them do the basic things in life we all take for granted.

What would you say to someone considering this career?

The good thing about it is that there are so many different places to do physical therapy and there is always teaching as well. It's just so diverse. There are so many different settings.