What You Need to Know About Physical Therapy Specialties
Life happens. Injuries, illness…something will eventually befall you.
Odds are every person will need physical therapy at some point in their life, or at minimum will need to find a PT for someone close to them.
This decision can depend on what problem you are having. Just like medical doctors (MDs), a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) can practice specialties as well.
What is a DPT?
Physical therapy students must graduate from a Doctor of Physical Therapy program to achieve a DPT degree, then pass a board licensing exam (NPTE) to practice legally. Once practicing, a PT can decide to extend their studies with a specialty certification.
To be clear, not all PTs are DPTs. The change in curriculum from PT to DPT became official in 2005. Prior to that it was a master’s degree, or even bachelor’s degree if you go way back.
How do you know what type of PT you need?
To answer this question, let’s highlight the specialties to determine if you need a specialist.
There are currently 10 physical therapy specialties recognized by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and certified by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties…
