2650-2653
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 2650-2653
2650. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, each applicant for a license as a physical therapist shall be a graduate of a professional degree program of an accredited postsecondary institution or institutions approved by the board, and shall have completed a professional education including academic coursework and clinical internship in physical therapy. (b) As referenced in the evaluative criteria of the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education of the American Physical Therapy Association, the curriculum shall consist of a combination of didactic, clinical, and research experiences in physical therapy using critical thinking and weighing of evidence, and shall include, at a minimum, all of the following: (1) The sciences basic to physical therapy including biomedical, physical, physiological, neurobiological, anatomical, social and behavioral sciences. (2) Clinical sciences including laboratory or other practical experiences involving quantitative and qualitative evaluation within the scope of physical therapy practice including kinesiology, neuroscience, pathology, human development, and gerontology. (3) Treatment that constitutes the practice of physical therapy. (4) Learning experiences provided in the areas of administration, education, and consultation. (5) Research methods including the review and critical analysis of research reports. (6) Ethical, legal, and economical concepts of physical therapy practice. (c) Each applicant shall have at least 18 weeks of full-time clinical experience with a variety of patients. 2650.1. During the period of clinical practice referred to in Section 2650 or in any similar period of observation or related educational experience involving recipients of physical therapy, a person so engaged shall be identified only as a "physical therapy student," or as a "physical therapy intern" as authorized by the board in its regulations. 2650.2. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent a regularly matriculated student undertaking a course of professional instruction in an approved physical therapist education program or a student enrolled in a program of supervised clinical training under the direction of an approved physical therapist education program pursuant to Section 2651, from performing physical therapy as a part of his or her course of study. 2651. The board may approve only those physical therapist education programs that prove to the satisfaction of the board that they comply with the minimum physical therapy educational requirements set forth in this chapter and adopted by the board pursuant to this chapter. Physical therapist education programs that are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education of the American Physical Therapy Association shall be deemed approved by the board unless the board determines otherwise. 2652. All physical therapist education programs, whether situated in this state or not, furnishing courses of study meeting the standards required by Sections 2650 and 2651 and the regulations of the board adopted pursuant to this chapter shall be approved by the board and shall be entitled to compel this approval, if it is denied, by action in the Superior Court of the State of California, the procedure and power of the court in which action shall be the same as provided in Section 2087. 2653. (a) An applicant for a license as a physical therapist who was issued a diploma by a physical therapist education program that is not an approved program and is not located in the United States shall meet all of the following requirements in order to be licensed as a physical therapist: (1) Furnish documentary evidence satisfactory to the board, that he or she has completed the equivalent professional degree to that issued by a United States accredited physical therapist education program in a physical therapist education program that entitles the applicant to practice as a physical therapist in the country where the diploma was issued. The physical therapy education received by the applicant shall meet the criteria set forth in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 2650. The board may require an applicant to submit documentation of his or her education to a credentials evaluation service for review and a report to the board. (2) Pass the written examination required by Section 2636. The requirements to pass the written examination shall not apply to an applicant who at the time of application has passed, to the satisfaction of the board, an examination for licensure in another state, district, or territory of the United States, that is, in the opinion of the board, comparable to the examination given in this state. (3) Complete a period of clinical service under the direct and immediate supervision of a physical therapist licensed by the board which does not exceed nine months in a location approved by the board, in a manner satisfactory to the board. The applicant shall have passed the written examination required in subdivision (b) prior to commencing the period of clinical service. The board shall require the supervising physical therapist to evaluate the applicant and report his or her findings to the board. The board may in its discretion waive all or part of the required clinical service pursuant to guidelines set forth in its regulations. During the period of clinical service until he or she is issued a license as a physical therapist by the board, the applicant shall be identified as a "physical therapist license applicant." (4) An applicant for licensure under this subdivision, whose application is based on a certificate issued by a physical therapist licensing authority of another state, may be required to pass an oral examination given by the board, and to file a statement of past work activity. (b) Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the board from disapproving any foreign physical therapist education program or from denying the applicant if, in the opinion of the board, the instruction received by the applicant or the courses were not equivalent to that required by this chapter. If the applicant does not qualify to take the physical therapist examination, his or her education may be evaluated and the applicant may be eligible to take the physical therapist assistant examination.