Speaker Notes MaryLu Cianciolo Law Offices of MaryLu Cianciolo 407 S. Dearborn, Suite 1280 Chicago, Illinois

Transcription

1 Physical Therapy Licensing Definitions and entities you need to know Speaker Notes MaryLu Cianciolo Law Offices of MaryLu Cianciolo 407 S. Dearborn, Suite 1280 Chicago, Illinois FSBPT- Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy FCCPT- Foreign Credentials Commission on Physical Therapy American Physical Therapy Association FEPT- Foreign Educated Physical Therapist Web site: US Physical Therapy Education Changes 1992 to present Most US educated physical therapist graduated with a Baccalaureate degree in Physical Therapy. At that time the pass rate for US educated was over 98%, non-us educated pass rate over 70% Today: All US graduate have a Masters of Physical Therapy Degree (minium six year degree) and often a DPT degree (seven - eight year degree). Current Licensure Examination Pass Rates US first time pass rate 75% Non- US educated pass rate likely only 20-30% since 11/02 changes in exam content. Reference: Foreign Educational Requirements Many states, responding to large numbers of unemployed US educated PT s in the late 90's changed their practice acts to make it more difficult and in some States impossible for FEPT s to obtain entry level physical therapy licensure without returned to a CAPTE accredited physical

2 therapy program. Since December 31, 2002, all US graduates must have a Masters in Physical Therapy Degree as the entry level degree. This requirement has been worked into various State Practice Acts, but not uniformly. Since 1997 Changes to State Licensing Requirements Only three non-us schools offer the MPT degree and States do not make it easy to make a foreign BSPT equivalent to the MPT. No State accepts prior work experience as a substitute for actual course work. Foreign Accredited Schools Robert Gordon University - Scotland University of Toronto University of Ulster at Jordonstown - Northern Ireland Phillippines does not offer a MPT degree. All other non-us school are subject to state law requirements. Physical Therapist Assistants are not Schedule A or eligible for H-1B even if they have a bachelors degree from a US institution. Minimum entry is an Associate Degree. Point is as far as licensure and immigration implications this is a moving target. Before starting any process, someone must look at the transcript and literally count credits according to US Standards. Scenarios 1. Your client a large skilled care provider calls you and tell you they have received resumes on their recruitment web site from many physical therapists in the Phillippines, all are graduates of entry level Baccalaureate programs and fully licensed in the Phillippines where the exam is harder than the US because it is 1000 questions rather than only 200. They hired plenty of FEPT s in the early 90s and want to know if you can premium process their visas and have them here within two months like the recruiters and lawyers did back then. Dream on!!!! First question: What state are they coming to? There are 53 jurisdictions and all have slightly different licensure requirements.

3 Some State examples: New York Physical Therapist Program Located Outside the United States that is not APTA Accredited, you must have: Completed a program satisfactory to the Department of not less than four years of postsecondary study which includes the professional study of physical therapy that is equivalent to a certificate program in physical therapy registered by the Department and which culminates in a degree or diploma accepted as preparation in physical therapy by the civil authorities of the country in which the studies were completed. Indiana Indiana was an old favorite because it still is one of the few states that still issues temporary licensure, however, they recently changed their practice act to only allow for individuals who are not educated at a CAPTE Accredited institution by petition IAC Florida Foreign-Educated Physical Therapist Has received an evaluation report by a Board-approved credentialing agency that his/her education is equivalent to education required for licensure as a physical therapist in the United States. Has not taken the National Physical Therapist Exam (NPTE) more than five attempts in any jurisdiction. Must have a social security number before issuance of licensure. California General education requirements shall consist of satisfactory completion of 15 semester units or 20 quarter units, including at least one course in each of the following areas: (1) Natural sciences. (2) Social or behavioral sciences. (3) Humanities. (4) English, speech, or mathematics. (5) English Completion which meets the Associate or Bachelor of Arts degree requirement of the college at which the course is taken. This lists the required courses that are seen in the coursework evaluation tool (developed by the FSBPT/FCCPT and used for educational equivalence by several States Texas New regulations as of 3/29/2004

4 60 General Education hours allowing up to 12 CLEP hours. Look at the graduation date: If FEPT graduated after December 31, 2002 entry level physical therapy degree must be equivalent to Baccalaureate If graduation date January 1, 2003 or later, entry level physical therapy degree must be equivalent to the MPT Scenario Two Your client has contacted you, they have made an offer of employment to Annika who originally came to the US on H-1B status four years ago. She was licensed under a temporary permit by the State of Colorado, based on her physical therapy degree from Sweden which is only a six semester, post secondary degree. She failed her licensure exam and was terminated by her employer and properly changed her status to F-1 student to pursue her education in the United States. She was accepted to and just completed the transitional DPT program at Bulldog Private University. Your client was just informed that your is refusing to allow her to allow her to take the licensure exam even though she has a DPT. from an US accredited program. Can you help? No. this was a heated debate a few years ago and some schools admitted students with non- US Physical Degrees and certifications with the claim that this degree would give them a US DPT. This point has since been clarified. You must look at the underlying entry level degree. Unfortunately, Annika has a non baccalaureate entry level degree that was only acceptable in a few States and now is not acceptable nowhere, including Colorado. If she has enrolled in a entry level MPT or DPT program she would have no problem. Scenario Three Maria Claudia is a United States citizen FEPT, with a Baccalaureate degree in Physical Therapy from Colombia. She passed the NPTE in 1997 with a passing score accepted in all 53 jurisdictions. She is currently the Director of Physical Therapy Services at a large community health care system in a neighboring State. In the United States she has obtained a post professional masters degree in Physical Therapy as well as American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties Certification in Geriatrics. She is also working on her Masters in Public Health at this time. Her employer, your client, has offered her the position of Director of Rehabilitation Services at a facility in your State. Your client was just told by the State Board of Physical Therapy that even though Maria Claudia has passed the licensure examination, in order to obtain licensure she must go to a community college and take approximately 35 semester hours of basic general education courses or go back to school and obtain a entry level Masters in Physical Therapy Degree in order to obtain a State license. How can this be true since she already passed the NPTE under the new scoring system. Can you help. Moral of the Story: Look to the entry level physical therapist degree English Fluency: Some but not all States require that these exams be taken prior to the licensure examination.

5 Generally the TOEFL is written into the State law and you cannot substitute other exams such as the International English Language Testing Sysem (IELTS) Credentialing Agencies FCCPT CGNFA/ICHP The National Physical Therapist Exam. Administered by the FSBPT only in the United States. Previous proposals that it be administered overseas have been turned down due to exam security concerns. After a major NPTE cheating scandal in 2002, it is unlikely that the exam will be administered Internationally anytime soon. The NPTE is updated every five years and is based on practice scenarios and is a best answer format. For the US graduate it has only a 75% pass rate, for the non-us graduate we estimate it is between 20-30% There are many books and short courses, but the only comprehensive since day review for foreign educated PT s is: Therapy Team Educational Services