Review for the Curriculum and License Exam of Physical Therapists in the United States

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to review the curriculum and license examination of physical therapists in the United States. METHODS: The doctor of physical therapy (DPT) curriculum was evaluated by a review Course Work Tool version 6 (CWT6) data and current physical therapy licensure examination (National Physical Therapy Exam, NPTE) category in the United States. RESULTS: The results indicated that they were required to meet the doctor of physical therapist degree based on ‘Guide to Physical Therapist Practice’ of American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). This includes general education in the areas of communications and humanities, physical science, biological science, social and behavioral science, and mathematics. A minimum of one course must be completed successfully in each area of general education. Moreover, there should be at least 68 didactic credits of professional education and 22 clinical education credits, which is a minimum of two full-time clinical internships with no less than 1050 hours in total, which were supervised by a physical therapist. Regarding the physical therapy licensure examination, National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE, 2016) consisted of a physical therapy examination (26.5%), evaluation, differential diagnosis, baseline of prognosis (32.5%), intervention (28.5%), protection, responsibility, and research (6.5%) based on the ‘Guide to Physical Therapist Practice’. CONCLUSION: Based on the study results provided above, it is considered a standard to meet domestic reality as the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice of APTA for South Korean physical therapists.