How does an Internationally trained PT become licensed to practice in US!

[DaktarSaheb]

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I am getting married to a Physical Therapist trained in India. We are now wondering how does it work for getting license to practice here in the states. Does it involve any additional schooling like Dental School, residency like Med school etc. Where do I find information on how to get a license to practice as a Physical therapist for internationally trained PT's. Thanks

 

[caduceus27]

hi
I dont know about India, but I definitley know about the middle east. About 10 years ago PTs from the middle east( Egypt in particular) could practice in the US after they took the license exam for the state. Now its quite different since the standard for PT is higher in the US than it was before. In terms of knowing if practicing here is possible for people with international degrees I would go to the APTA website for more information. I think you need additional schooling because the minimum requirement to practice as a PT is a doctorate.

 

[callmecrazy]

I think you need additional schooling because the minimum requirement to practice as a PT is a doctorate.

This is not true. Please check your facts before advising. There are still programs offering MPT degrees and their graduates are no less entitled to practice than those with their DPT.

 

[caduceus27]

This is not true. Please check your facts before advising. There are still programs offering MPT degrees and their graduates are no less entitled to practice than those with their DPT.

Sorry, had no idea there were still MPT programs, But i think MPT will not be as competitive in the coming years.

 

[DaktarSaheb]

Thanks guys for the reply. I found out after taking to the people in the state board that you can practice as a PT in US without going to school. However, you have to take all the exams and get your program evaluated by one of the agencies recommended by them. It might change in the future but as of now it is not the case.

 

[PTapp]

Thanks guys for the reply. I found out after taking to the people in the state board that you can practice as a PT in US without going to school. However, you have to take all the exams and get your program evaluated by one of the agencies recommended by them. It might change in the future but as of now it is not the case.

Thanks for posting this here. A lot of foreign PTs would want to know that.

 

[soccer31]

however, I heard from some pts that came from other countries that after having their program evaluated they need to take some classes to compensate since it is usually a bachelors program in other countries.... the classes that I heard some of them took were usually the basic science courses that we take as prereqs....

 

[DaktarSaheb]

however, I heard from some pts that came from other countries that after having their program evaluated they need to take some classes to compensate since it is usually a bachelors program in other countries.... the classes that I heard some of them took were usually the basic science courses that we take as prereqs....

True.

This is exactly what the state board of north carolina told me. Howeve, it depends on your program. Some programs are identical to US so they don't make them take anything while others are not so they make them take organic chem, biology and sometimes physics as well. Mostly one semester of them at the most.