Becoming a Physical Therapist in Missouri – MO

The following are the steps to become a physical therapist in Missouri.

Education
Academic programs in physical therapy receive accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), the accrediting body of the American Physical Therapy Association’s accrediting organization. Students may select from seven accredited physical therapist education programs in Missouri lasting from 3 to 6.5 years. The six-year programs begin at the freshman level and include both academic and professional phases. Admission to five of the seven programs offered in Missouri three years requires a bachelor’s degree and prerequisite coursework, minimum GPA, GRE, knowledge of the field and letters of recommendation.

Licensing
Graduates of an accredited education program must apply to the Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts, part of the Missouri Division of Professional Registration, to receive state licensure. Applicants must complete an information form, activity statement documenting employment from the date of high school graduation or for the last 10 years (whichever is the most recent) and a Jurisprudence Examination, an open-book test on the laws and rules related the practice of physical therapy in Missouri. 

In addition to providing transcripts and copies of a diploma and Social Security Card, applicants must also certify that they have registered with the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy to take the examination for physical therapists. The application fee is $50.

Examination
To receive a Missouri license, physical therapists must also take and pass the National Physical Therapy Examination. The fee for the NPTE is $370 as of January 2010 and a fee of $70.60 must be paid to Prometric, which provides the FSBPT’s computer-based testing services. A passing score on the exam is a scaled score of 600 based on a scale of 200 to 800.