License: Physical Therapist

Department of Health Professions Board of Medicine

6606 West Broad Street

4th Floor

Richmond, VA 23230-1717

(804) 662-9908

General requirements. Licensure as a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant shall be by examination or by endorsement. Education requirements: graduates of approved programs. A. An applicant for licensure who is a graduate of an approved program shall submit documented evidence of his graduation from such a program with the required application and fee. B. If an applicant is a graduate of an approved program located outside of the United States or Canada, he shall provide proof of proficiency in the English language by passing TOEFL and TSE or the TOEFL iBT, the Internet-based tests of listening, reading, speaking and writing by a score determined by the board or an equivalent examination approved by the board. TOEFL iBT or TOEFL and TSE may be waived upon evidence that the applicant's physical therapy program was taught in English or that the native tongue of the applicant's nationality is English. Education requirements: graduates of schools not approved by an accrediting agency approved by the board. A. An applicant for initial licensure as a physical therapist who is a graduate of a school not approved by an accrediting agency approved by the board shall submit the required application and fee and provide documentation of the physical therapist's certification by a report from the FCCPT or of the physical therapist eligibility for licensure as verified by a report from any other credentialing agency approved by the board that substantiates that the physical therapist has been evaluated in accordance with requirements of subsection B. B. The board shall only approve a credentialing agency that: 1. Utilizes the Coursework Evaluation Tool for Foreign Educated Physical Therapists of the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy and utilizes original source documents to establish substantial equivalency to an approved physical therapy program; 2. Conducts a review of any license or registration held by the physical therapist in any country or jurisdiction to ensure that the license or registration is current and unrestricted or was unrestricted at the time it expired or was lapsed; and 3. Verifies English language proficiency by passage of the TOEFL and TSE examination or the TOEFL iBT, the Internet-based tests of listening, reading, speaking and writing or by review of evidence that the applicant's physical therapy program was taught in English or that the native tongue of the applicant's nationality is English. C. An applicant for licensure as a physical therapist assistant who is a graduate of a school not approved by the board shall submit with the required application and fee the following: 1. Proof of proficiency in the English language by passing TOEFL and TSE or the TOEFL iBT, the Internet-based tests of listening, reading, speaking and writing by a score determined by the board or an equivalent examination approved by the board. TOEFL iBT or TOEFL and TSE may be waived upon evidence that the applicant's physical therapist assistant program was taught in English or that the native tongue of the applicant's nationality is English. 2. A copy of the original certificate or diploma which has been certified as a true copy of the original by a notary public, verifying his graduation from a physical therapy curriculum. If the certificate or diploma is not in the English language, submit either: a. An English translation of such certificate or diploma by a qualified translator other than the applicant; or b. An official certification in English from the school attesting to the applicant's attendance and graduation date. 3. Verification of the equivalency of the applicant's education to the educational requirements of an approved program for physical therapist assistants from a scholastic credentials service approved by the board: D. An applicant for initial licensure as a physical therapist or a physical therapist assistant who is not a graduate of an approved program shall also submit verification of having successfully completed a full-time 1,000-hour traineeship under the direct supervision of a licensed physical therapist. 1. The traineeship shall be in accordance with requirements of 18VAC112-20-140. 2. The traineeship requirements of this part may be waived if the applicant for a license can verify, in writing, the successful completion of one year of clinical physical therapy practice as a licensed physical therapist or physical therapist assistant in the United States, its territories, the District of Columbia, or Canada, equivalent to the requirements of this chapter. Requirements for licensure by examination. A. Every applicant for initial licensure by examination shall submit: 1. Documentation of having met the educational requirements specified in 18VAC112-20-40 or 18VAC112-20-50; 2. The required application, fees and credentials to the board; and 3. Documentation of passage of the national examination as prescribed by the board. B. If an applicant fails the national examination three times, he shall apply for approval to sit for any subsequent examination by submission of evidence satisfactory to the board of having successfully completed the following requirements: 1. Provide the board with a copy of the deficiency report from the examination; 2. Review areas of deficiency with the applicant's physical therapy educational program and develop a plan, which may include additional clinical training or coursework, to address deficiency areas; and 3. Take an examination review course and the practice examination. Requirements for licensure by endorsement. A. A physical therapist or physical therapist assistant who holds a current, unrestricted license in the United States, its territories, the District of Columbia, or Canada, may be licensed in Virginia by endorsement. B. An applicant for licensure by endorsement shall submit: 1. Documentation of having met the educational requirements prescribed in 18VAC112-20-40 or 18VAC112-20-50. In lieu of meeting such requirements, an applicant may provide evidence of clinical practice during the five years immediately preceding application for licensure in Virginia with a current, unrestricted license issued by another U. S. jurisdiction; 2. The required application, fees, and credentials to the board; 3. A current report from the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB) and a current report from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB); 4. Evidence of completion of 15 hours of continuing education for each year in which the applicant held a license in another U.S. jurisdiction, or 60 hours obtained within the past four years; and 5. Documentation of passage of an examination equivalent to the Virginia examination at the time of initial licensure or documentation of passage of an examination required by another state at the time of initial licensure in that state and active, clinical practice with a current, unrestricted license for at least five years prior to applying for licensure in Virginia. For the purpose of this subsection, active, clinical practice shall mean at least 2,500 hours of patient care over a five-year period. C. A physical therapist or physical therapist assistant seeking licensure by endorsement who has not actively practiced physical therapy for at least 320 hours within the four years immediately preceding his application for licensure shall first successfully complete 480 hours in a traineeship in accordance with requirements of 18VAC112-20-140.