Board of Physical Therapy
Continuing Competence
Failure to comply with continuing competence requirements may result in disciplinary action against the licensee. The disciplinary action will be reported on the Department of Health license verification web site and will not be removed.
- CE Broker Information
- NEW - CE BROKER IS NOW THE OFFICIAL CE TRACKING SYSTEM OF THE BOARD OF PHYSICAL THERAPY
The Tennessee Board of Physical Therapy has approved a transitional phase for licensees to start reporting certificates of completion of appropriate continuing education (CE) courses to CE Broker which began on July 1, 2018 to last until June 30, 2020 , the equivalence of one renewal cycle. During this period, licensees may report completion of their CEs to either CE broker or the board’s administrative office. Beginning July 1, 2020, it shall become mandatory for licensees to report proof of completion of their CEs to CE Broker, including at the time of license renewal. The Board will periodically audit proof of completion of CE courses submitted to CE Broker to determine compliance with the board’s CE requirements.
Should you have additional questions or need further information about this notice, please do not hesitate to contact the Board Administrative Office at (615) 741-3807.
Effective June 29, 2016, changes to the continuing competence rules outlining continuing competence requirements for physical therapists and physical therapist assistants went into effect. These rules require all licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants to obtain 30 hours of credits for the 24 months that precede their licensure renewal month. For physical therapists, at least twenty hours must be in Category 1 activities and no more than ten hours may be acquired online. Up to ten of the thirty hours requirement may be from Category 2 activities.
All licensed physical therapist assistants are now required to obtain 30 hours of credits for the 24 months that precede their licensure renewal month. At least twenty of those hours must be Category 1 activities and no more than 10 hours may be acquired online. Up to ten of the thirty hours may be from Category 2 activities.
For both physical therapists and physical therapist assistants, four (4) of the required hours must consist of ethics and jurisprudence courses which are a minimum of two (2) hours each in duration and must be Category 1 continuing competence. Proof of completion of courses in ethics and jurisprudence is required every license renewal cycle.
Pursuant to policy statement adopted by the Board on May 27, 2016 to address transition of continuing competence due dates for physical therapist assistants in 2016 and online course restrictions for all physical therapy practitioners through June 30, 2017, any physical therapist assistant with a licensure expiration date on or before June 30, 2017 who earns twenty (20) hours of continuing competence in his or her twenty-four (24) month licensure renewal cycle is considered to have fulfilled the continuing competence requirement for that licensure renewal cycle. Furthermore, physical therapists and physical therapist assistants with licensure expiration dates on or before June 30, 2017 may acquire more than ten (10) hours of online instruction to fulfill their continuing competence requirements for that renewal cycle. Illustrative examples of the effect of this policy can be found in the policy statement in the link to 'Policies' section on the Board's website.
- You must retain these hours up to 5 years after completion. The only time you must submit proof of these hours to the Board is upon request. To obtain these rules go to: https://www.tn.gov/health/health-program-areas/health-professional-boards/pt-board/pt-board/legislative.html.