March 2019
Volume 21, Number 3
Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy
In this News Brief:
LAST CALL! Express Your Interest in Running in 2019
Last call for expressing your interest. At the 2019 Delegate Assembly in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, elections will be held for the following positions on the Board of Directors and the Nominating Committee.
PRESIDENT (three-year term):
Must be a current or past member of a Member Board or current or past administrator of a Member Board.
VICE PRESIDENT (three-year term):
Must be a current or past member of a Member Board or current or past administrator of a Member Board.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE MEMBER (three-year term):
Must be a member of a Member Board, an administrator of a Member Board, an Associate Member, or an individual with expertise to facilitate the task of the committee. An Associate Member is a former member or administrator of a Member Board, a former member of the Board of Directors, a former committee or task force member, or a member of the Academy of Advanced Item Writers.
Are you interested in running for a position? View the job descriptions and email communications@fsbpt.org before March 31, 2019. (Please include the position(s) for which you are interested.) You’ll hear about next steps in spring 2019.
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Regulatory Training for Members and Board Staff
All board members and board staff (administrators, licensing specialists, and attorneys) are eligible to participate. This training provides an in-depth understanding of your role as a regulatory board member or staff person in protecting the consumers of physical therapy services. We also provide an overview of the services FSBPT provides to our members.
The training will be held August 16-18, 2019, in Alexandria, Virginia. Costs are covered by FSBPT.Attendance is limited and priority is given to first-time attendees. Read our Frequently Asked Questions about Regulatory Training Registration and Travel for more information.
Requests must be received before June 1, 2019, for consideration. To reserve a spot, email communications@fsbpt.org.
2019 INPTRA Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, May 8-9
Preceding the World Confederation for Physical Therapy Congress this year, the International Network of Physiotherapy Regulatory Authorities (INPTRA®) will be holding its biennial meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Registration is now open. Visit the INPTRA 2019 conference page to view conference details, including the preliminary program, and to register.
The PT Compact is Growing
Both Arkansas and Virginia have joined the growing list (twenty-three so far!) of states that have enacted legislation to join the PT Compact. Check out the PT Compact map to find your state.
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Ohio and Oregon Opt into the Alternate Approval Process
In March, Ohio and Oregon joined eleven other states by opting into the Alternate Approval Process (AAP). Under AAP, when an applicant who is a graduate of a CAPTE accredited program registers for the NPTE, FSBPT will make the candidate eligible to sit for the NPTE provided that the candidate meets all NPTE eligibility requirements. Under AAP, FSBPT also handles the review of all requests for testing accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Contact FSBPT if your jurisdiction is interested in opting into AAP.
NPTE Workshop for Educators
FSBPT is preparing to host the NPTE Workshop for Educators Saturday and Sunday, October 5-6, 2019, in Los Angeles, California, at the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles International Airport. Like the workshops held at the FSBPT offices, attendees should expect to receive valuable insights on how the NPTE is developed and how to prepare students for the NPTE as well as hands-on assistance in writing test items similar to those on the NPTE.
Please check the NPTE Workshop for Educators webpage for more information and registration resources as we continue to update and solidify details.
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Complaints and Military Physical Therapists
There are a few situations where civilians might be treated by military service providers. The most common situation is family members being treated in military treatment facilities (MTF) by active duty service providers. Retirees often seek care at MTFs for the reduced costs. But what do these civilians do if they feel something is wrong with their care?
To be a physical therapist in the military you must have graduated from a CAPTE accredited program, have passed the NPTE, and hold a license in any US jurisdiction. If working solely for the Department of Defense, the PT only needs one license; a license is not required in the state in which the physical therapist is located.
For a military member to provide services outside of the military treatment facility, they must be licensed in that state. If the military member was providing services in a civilian setting, the complainant should follow the typical procedure for filing a complaint with the appropriate state board where the services were provided.
If the military member was providing services in a military setting, the complainant can go through the chain of command there. That PT will report to someone higher up the command chain, and that person can receive a complaint and investigate. The nature of the complaint will determine if the issue must be escalated. MTFs are laid out very much like civilian hospitals, clinics, etc. There will be administration where a complaint can be lodged or escalated.
Additionally, ICE, a military survey system, allows feedback regarding services received in military facilities worldwide. The ICE survey results are taken seriously and are used to grade military services.
Finally, an individual could find out where the member is licensed and complain through that board. While it's possible the PT board has no jurisdiction, it’s still an avenue.
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Using the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) for General Education Credits
CLEP is very useful for foreign educated applicants lacking general educational credits on the educational credentials review. The purpose of CLEP exams is to allow individuals to earn college credit by demonstrating competence in certain college-level general education content through standardized testing. The CLEP exams are credit-granting examinations; an individual may test out rather than attend courses in certain topic areas.
The College Board, the organization sponsoring CLEP exams, offers more than thirty CLEP exams covering common content taught in introductory college courses. The applicant will contact the College Board and register for the CLEP exam for the specific course content that is lacking. Each individual should confirm the acceptance policy of CLEP exams with the jurisdiction to which they are applying. There are no CLEP exams for professional coursework.
After completion, the College Board sends a transcript with a score to the Physical Therapy Board where the applicant is seeking licensure. The American Council on Education recommends the credit-granting score for each exam.
Spotlight on Member Resources: The Exam, Licensure, and Disciplinary Database (ELDD)
The objective of the ELDD is to support the jurisdictions’ mission of public protection by maintaining a physical therapy database of disciplinary, licensure, and examination score information.
The following ELDD services are provided to our members.
FSBPT Adverse Action Reporting Service
This service provides member jurisdictions with free, automatic, electronic notice of disciplinary actions reported to the ELDD by other jurisdictions and FSBPT against one of their licensees. It is provided either as an alert to the jurisdictions that license the individual or it is included in the score report to a jurisdiction when the licensee requests licensure by endorsement.
Not all jurisdictions provide disciplinary information into FSBPT’s ELDD yet. We are eager to work with these jurisdictions to see if we can add their disciplinary actions to our secure database.
FSBPT Score Reporting Service
The ELDD includes all known licenses and disciplinary actions on each New Score Report for the NPTE and Jurisprudence Exams as well as any Score Transfer or Individual Score
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Our Gratitude for Volunteers
This month, we thank the generous volunteer members of these groups for their support of our mission:
Board Assessment Task Force
- Kathy Arney
- Michele Sigmund Gaines
- Charlotte Martin
- Jeffrey Vinzant
- Deborah Richard-Peter
- Jason Kaiser
EDC-PT Committee
Basic Item Writers
EDC-PTA Committee
Item Writer Coordinators
In the News
North Carolina PTs Get Decisive Dry Needling Win, PT inMotion, March 12, 2019
"After a nearly 4-year battle, physical therapists (PTs) in North Carolina can finally claim victory in their fight to protect dry needling: last week, the state's acupuncture licensing board relented on its attempt to restrict the intervention, signing off on a settlement agreement in federal district court that acknowledges dry needling as a part of the PT scope of practice in the state. The settlement is a decisive win for APTA’s state chapter, the North Carolina Physical Therapy Association (NCPTA), as well as for APTA, which provided support for the chapter's efforts."
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Board Liaisons to Jurisdictions
Members of the Board of Directors serve as liaisons to multiple jurisdictions. Current liaison relationships are listed here for your reference.
Jurisdictions
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Board Liaison
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Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas
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Thomas Caldwell
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Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Utah
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Ruggie Canizares
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Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina
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Ellen Donald
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Delaware, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia
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Adrienne Price
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Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming
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Joni Kalis
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Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont
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Nancy Kirsch
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Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
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David Relling
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The public member of the board does not serve as a liaison to jurisdictions
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John Young
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Staff Contact Information
Staff Contact Information
If you have questions, challenges or ideas, we want to hear from you!
(703) 299-3100
Subject
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Point of Contact/Email Address
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ADA accommodations
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Christine Sousa
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aPTitude®
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competencestaff@fsbpt.org
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Assessment or examination development questions
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Lorin Mueller, PhD
Susan Layton
npte@fsbpt.org
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Continuing competence
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Jeffrey M. Rosa
Heidi Herbst Paakkonen
competencestaff@fsbpt.org
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Credentials review
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Jaime Nolan, FCCPT
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ELDD- Exam, Licensure and Disciplinary Database participation
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eldd@fsbpt.org
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Exam registration processing
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Christine Sousa
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Foreign educated issues
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Leslie Adrian
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Immigration
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Jamie Nolan
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JAM- Jurisprudence Assessment Module
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competencestaff@fsbpt.org
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Legislation or Model Practice Act
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Leslie Adrian
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Meeting arrangements
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Paul Delaney
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NPDB reports/questions
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Angela Burnham
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oPTion®
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competencestaff@fsbpt.org
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PTC- Physical Therapy Compact
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compact@fsbpt.org
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PEAT®- Practice Exam & Assessment Tool
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peat@fsbpt.org
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ProCert®
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competencestaff@fsbpt.org
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Reimbursement of expenses
Other financial matters
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Bill Aronson
Linda Michelsen
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School reports
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schoolreports@fsbpt.org
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Score transfer & reporting
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Christine Sousa
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SCP PET- Supervised Clinical Practice Performance Evaluation Tool
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scppet@fsbpt.org
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Security issues
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Susan Layton
security@fsbpt.org
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Anything else, including news to share with members
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William A. Hatherill
Francois Marjorie
Caitlin Jennings
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Sign off:
That’s all the news today from the Virginia Bluebell covered banks of the Potomac, where the fish are faster, the fishing boats are longer, and the fishermen are still full of stories.
- William A. Hatherill, CEO
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