Who doesn't want an upgrade? Whether it's in your PC's memory, or in your Tab's games, or in any other techie stuff, who doesn't even want to have one? Even in our careers, we need an upgrade. Specializations are one of the most dreamt-of steps in an individual's career; you get to have the edge among the others of your same kind, and you get all the benefits - well, most of it.
You are on a steady, or shall I say stagnant career of being a physical therapist. You attend to various patients, come up with plans for their conditions and do the same routine without even a spark of adventure, and suddenly you thought of an upgrade, a specialization, some new pinch of spice to your PT career! To get started, here's what you do:
1. Secure your license. Your license should be your current one, which allows you to practice physical therapy in the United States or any of its places under. The council requires you to submit only one license verification of the two ways accredited. One is the submission of a print copy of on-line license verification. Some states have this and if you could locate one, print a copy from the website. Just ensure that your name, state, license number, expiration date, and verification are in good standing. Another way could be through state licensing agencies (mostly applicable to states without on-line verification). You may have such verification by sending a letter to your state board physical therapy with the request to send license verification from the licensing agency to the Specialist Certification Program.
2. Plot down your patient care forms. Two thousand (2,000) hours of direct patient in the specialty area is a requirement for the specialization. These 2,000 hours should be within the last ten years, wherein 25% or 500 hours of it occurred within the last three years or through the completion of an APTA credentialed cardiovascular and pulmonary residency program. These forms serve as evidence to your direct patient care experiences. The Description of Physical Therapy Experience relates your exposure per facility, wherein one form should be for each facility, and another for each position acquired for the experience per facility. The other form is the Summary Chart of Physical Therapy Experience makes a rundown of your exposures for the past ten years. The summary would include the following factors: year, facility name, number of weeks, hours per week, total hours of General Physical Therapy practice, Percentage of Clinical Practice, Total Clinical Hours in Specialty, Percentage of Direct Patient Care Hours in Specialty, Total Direct Patient Care Hours in Specialty, and Cumulative Total of Direct Patient Care Hours in Specialty. It is also recommended by the specialty council that practice settings should vary in acute and rehabilitative environments.
3. Comply with the other requirements. Aside from the two mentioned above, there are other requirements that need to be complied of: (1) ACLS Certification - applicants should be currently certified with Advanced Cardiac Life Support by the American Heart Association, and (2) Research - participation to the research process within the last ten years of PT practice is needed. The experience should be printed in a form (a) relating a brief statement of the experience and your involvement in the study, and (b) the abstract summarizing the study.
4. Fill out your application form. Once you're done with the above your requirements, you are now legible to fill out the forms for application of the Specialty Program.
5. Pay the prescribed fees. Fees may vary per membership of the APTA. Review fees are $500 for APTA members and $845 for non-APTA members, and testing fees are $800 for APTA members and $1,525 for non-APTA members.
6. Know your schedule. Your schedules and other miscellaneous information are given after your application has been approved by the council.
7. Prepare for your exams. Part of preparing for examinations is knowing the coverage of it. You may browse on some advanced books, journals and the Description of Specialty Practice (DSP). Another is to get familiar with the software. Since the examinations are through computers, getting familiar with the software makes it easier for you to toggle with questions and answers.
8. Pass the exams. You get the passing rate and you get your certificate for the specialty area, a label pin, and your name in the online directory of specialists in the field.
Take the steps and you're on your way to becoming a specialist - a Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physical Therapy Specialist to be specific!
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