SECTIONS 2650-2653 - California Statutes

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.