49 Pa. Code § 40.17 - Foreign-educated physical therapists applying to take the licensure examination and pursue a clinical experience
To be eligible to take the examination for licensure, foreign-educated applicants for licensure shall comply with the following conditions:
(1) The applicant shall
submit evidence, satisfactory to the Board, indicating that the applicant has
met the requirements in §
40.12(a)(1)-(3) and
(b) (relating to application for licensure)
and pay the fee in §
40.5 (relating to fees) for
application for physical therapist licensure through foreign
training.
(2) The applicant shall
provide written documentation that the applicant has graduated from a physical
therapist education program that prepares the applicant to engage without
restriction in the practice of physical therapy and that the school of physical
therapy is recognized by the authorizing agency or entity of the jurisdiction
in which the school is situated.
(3) The applicant shall provide written
documentation that the applicant holds or held legal authorization to practice
as a physical therapist without limitations in the country where the
professional education took place. If an applicant's authorization to practice
in the foreign jurisdiction is not current at the time of applying to the
Board, that authorization must have been unrestricted immediately prior to
expiring or being placed on inactive status.
(4) The applicant shall provide documentation
of legal authorization to seek employment in the United States or its
territories.
(5) The applicant
shall provide satisfactory evidence that the applicant's education is
substantially equivalent to the education of physical therapists educated in an
accredited program as set forth in §
40.11 (relating to educational
requirements for licensure by examination) by either showing that the education
program is accredited as provided in §
40.11(a) or
securing a credentials evaluation from a recognized and accredited evaluation
agency approved by the Board. If the applicant's education was completed before
1998, the credentials evaluation must demonstrate that the applicant has met
the requirement of at least 120 semester credit hours of which at least 42
credit hours must be in general education subjects and 69 credit hours must be
in professional education subjects. If the applicant's education was completed
in 1998 or later, credentials evaluation must demonstrate that the applicant
has met the requirements of at least 150 semester hours of which at least 60
credit hours must be in general education subjects and 90 credit hours must be
in professional education subjects. If an applicant has deficiencies in general
education or professional education, the applicant can correct the deficiencies
as follows:
(i)
General
education. A minimum of one semester course shall be successfully
completed in each of the following areas of general education unless otherwise
noted:
(A) Humanities.
(B) Physical science (two courses each in
chemistry and physics including laboratory sessions).
(C) Biological science.
(D) Social science.
(E) Behavioral science.
(F) Mathematics.
(ii)
Professional education.
The applicant shall complete 69 credit hours of professional
education the content of which includes:
(A)
Basic health science including:
(I) Human
anatomy (specific to physical therapy).
(II) Human physiology (specific to physical
therapy).
(III)
Neuroscience.
(IV) Kinesiology or
functional anatomy.
(V)
Pathology.
(B) Medical
and clinical science coursework including the following:
(I) Clinical medicine pertinent to physical
therapy including:
(-a-) Neurology.
(-b-) Orthopedics.
(-c-) Pediatrics.
(-d-) Geriatrics.
(-e-) Cardiopulmonary.
(-f-) Pharmacology.
(II) Physical therapist coursework must
include:
(-a-) Examination, evaluation and
intervention pertaining to the integumentary system.
(-b-) Examination, evaluation and
intervention pertaining to the musculoskeletal system.
(-c-) Examination, evaluation and
intervention pertaining to the neuromuscular system.
(-d-) Examination, evaluation and
intervention pertaining to the cardiopulmonary system.
(iii)
Clinical
education. Clinical education shall include physical
therapist-supervised application of physical therapy theory, examination,
evaluation and intervention. The applicant shall have a minimum of two
full-time clinical internships of at least 800 hours total, which are
supervised by a physical therapist. The maximum number of full-time clinical
education credits is 23.
(iv)
Related professional coursework. Content is required in the
following nine areas:
(A) Professional
behaviors.
(B)
Administration.
(C) Community
health.
(D) Research and clinical
decision making.
(E) Educational
techniques.
(F) Medical
terminology.
(G) Communication
(related to client/patient care).
(H) Legal and ethical aspects of physical
therapy practice.
(I) Psychosocial
aspects in physical therapy practice.
(6)
General educational deficiencies.
The applicant may correct general educational deficiencies in the
areas specified in paragraph (5)(i) by either:
(A) Pursuing studies in an accredited college
or university. Upon completion of studies, the applicant shall submit an
official transcript to the Board.
(B) Attaining college credit through
successful completion of the following examinations offered by the College
Level Examination Program (CLEP). No more than 30 credits may be obtained
through CLEP.
(I) The CLEP General Examination
may be used to satisfy the requirements in paragraph (5)(i) for credit hours if
passing scores are received in the following subjects:
| General Examination | College Level Credit |
| English Composition with Essay | 6 |
| Mathematics | 3 |
| Humanities | 6 |
| Natural Sciences | |
| Biological Sciences (subscore) | 3 |
| Physical Sciences (subscore) | 3 |
| Social Sciences | 6 |
(II) The CLEP Subject Examination may be used
to satisfy the requirements in paragraph (5) for credit hours if passing scores
are received in the following subjects:
| Subject Examination | College Level Credit |
| Analysis and Interpretation of Literature | 3 |
| College Algebra | 3 |
| English Literature | 3 |
| Foreign Language | |
| French-Levels I and II | 6 |
| German-Levels I and II | 6 |
| Spanish-Levels I and II | 6 |
| Freshman English | 3 |
| English Composition | 4 |
| General Biology | 3 |
| General Chemistry | 3 |
| General Psychology | 2 |
| Human Growth & Development | 2 |
| Introduction to Management | 2 |
| Introduction to Sociology | 2 |
| Statistics | 2 |
| Trigonometry | 2 |
| Western Civilization | 3 |
(III) The applicant is responsible for
directing that CLEP report his examination scores to the Board.
(7)
Clinical
experience. The applicant may correct a deficiency in clinical
experience by obtaining, at the Board's discretion, up to 1 year of supervised
clinical experience in the United States, as approved by the Board.
(i) To apply for approved supervised clinical
experience the applicant shall:
(A) Submit a
notarized application signed by the sponsoring physical therapist who will
supervise the applicant in the institution in which the applicant will be
pursuing the clinical experience.
(B) Arrange for and have a personal interview
with a member of the Board and have the application forms signed and approved
by the Board member.
(C) Submit a
passport-size photograph for the purpose of identification. The applicant and a
sponsor shall both sign either the photograph or the paper on which the
photograph is mounted.
(ii) The applicant may obtain the required
clinical experience while pursuing studies to correct educational deficiencies
in the areas specified in paragraph (5).
(iii) The applicant shall submit a letter
from the supervising physical therapist in the institution where the supervised
clinical experience was completed, certifying the applicant's clinical
competence.
Notes
The provisions of this § 40.17 issued under section 506 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. § 186); and section 3 of the Physical Therapy Practice Act (63 P. S. § 1303); amended under sections 3(a), 4(a), 5, 6, 7.2, 9.1, 10 and 11(a) of the Physical Therapy Practice Act (63 P. S. §§ 1303(a), 1304(a), 1305, 1306, 1307.2, 1309.1, 1310 and 1311(a)); section 812.1 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. § 279.3a); and section 16 of the act of July 4, 2008 (P. L. 293, No. 38).
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