Physical Therapy License, Certificate

By an allied health world contributing writer
Published: February 5th, 2010

What does the state licensure board exam entail?

The American Physical Therapy Association is the governing body for physical therapists but licensure is granted by each state. Each state has its own specific physical therapy licensure exam. Some states require a practical exam in addition to the multiple-choice exam, and other states don’t have this requirement. Each state has its own continuing education requirements for renewing licensure but most require between 20-30 credits within the two-year renewal period.

When the GI Bill becomes available for you to use, follow these steps: Learn more about physical therapy education.

Are specialty certificate available to physical therapists?

There are a wide variety of Physical Therapy Workout

specialized certificates available to physical therapists through a variety of different organizations. Some examples of certificates include: Strength and Conditioning Specialist, orthopedics, manual techniques, aquatic therapy, sports rehab, and Hippotherapy which utilizes the multidimensional movement of horses to help patients with movement dysfunction. Some of these specialties (such as manual and Hippotherapy) are specific to PTs whereas other certificates could be earned by a variety of health care professionals (like Strength and Conditioning Specialist).

What types of personality traits or skills make someone a good physical therapist?

Physical therapists perhaps above all else must enjoy working with people. Being compassionate and wanting to see others succeed are important traits for PTs to possess. It is also important for physical therapists to be confident and assertive since they typically have a staff such as a physical therapy assistant and PT Tech working under their license. They must be able to delegate tasks to their staff and communicate in a clear and effective manner so there is no ambiguity.