A woman claimed to be a physical therapist but didn't have a college degree. Despite a specific line of questioning, she just couldn't bring herself to admit she was a PT tech. Why did she misrepresent herself? While this woman is held in high regard, she isn't exempt from the high value our society places on status. Have ''tech'' and ''aide'' ...

I recently received quite a few heartfelt responses to a blog I wrote last year on the subject of the dreaded PTA ''state board licensure exam.'' I feel your pain, people. I vividly remember the pre/post anxiety and panic of preparing and actually taking the test. Many readers asked about the timeliness of receiving the test results. My ...

''Spinal manipulation is not designated as being under the exclusive domain of any one specific profession or group of practitioners.'' So says the APTA; however, the position they take with the PT assistants is that we should not be allowed to perform joint mobilization (any grades). So effectively, the APTA is saying the PTA is not a group of ...

Recently I've found myself looking at the available positions in Houston. I never thought I would be doing this again but here I am. Things have changed since I last looked. There are more jobs posted than previously. Salaries are higher. No one seems to be looking for anyone with experience. While there are more job listings, there don't seem ...

Last week I ran across something I'd never seen or heard of before -- a therapist who doesn't write notes. I had 12 of his patients. All 12 were lacking daily notes. The papers were there where the notes would have been written. Times in and out were documented. There just wasn't anything else written down. All of the charts had evaluations and a ...

I met a friend for coffee this week, and we started talking about the Combined Sections Meeting in Chicago and our plans to participate in some of the APTA and WPTA events this spring. Eventually the conversation shifted to the APTA in general and the pros and cons of being a member. My friend pointed out that for chiropractors and medical ...

We all have that ''Priority List'' that includes the daily necessities, from ''feed and clothe the kids'' (#1) to alphabetize the DVD collection (#289). As I close into completing my first year as a PTA, I've found that the required 40 hours of continuing education requirement (completed over a two-year period) has slowly started to inch up the ...

Each state board regulates PT and PTA contact hours to maintain licensure. The general consensus from most of the state boards is that around 20 to 30 contact hours is sufficient for us to maintain a license in their particular state (Some state board requirements are as low as 10 contact hours and as high as 40 per renewal). Florida has a ...

I had the pleasure (no, not really) of taking my PTA license exam last week amid great angst and drama only a serial anxiety-prone test taker can truly reach. Throughout my SPTA experience, I excelled at the practical ''hands-on'' aspect of the program and struggled pathetically with the multiple-choice-questioned tests. I vividly remember one ...

I enjoy studying, reading and learning about events outside of the therapy world. Because of this, I am better able to communicate and understand a great deal more about my patients. Sadly, state boards do not recognize this study in their CEU requirements. That is unfortunate. There are patients who are art dealers, photographers, actors, etc. ...