How to Become a Physical Therapist in Mississippi (MS)

“Physical therapy” or “physiotherapy” means the same and are identical. It is art and science that is concerned with the prevention of disability and rehabilitation for congenital or acquired physical or mental disabilities resulting from injury or disease. A physical therapist clinic may include weights, mats, and treadmills where they can perform a variety of exercises with the patients to improve sensory perception, muscle strength and motor skills. Both the patient and the PT work as a team to achieve the goal. Communication is very important in this field as patients need to respond to the instructions given by the physical therapist. Patient of all age is treated by the physical therapist right from infant to the very old.

Association Group Responsible for providing license

In Mississippi, the Mississippi Board of Physical Therapy is responsible to issue license to physical therapists. The application process is dependent on whether you are new student, a licensed physical therapist in another state or country.

Mailing Address

MississippiState
Board of Physical Therapy
P.O. Box 55707
Jackson, MS 39296-5707

Application process

For people from United States

PHYSICAL THERAPIST APPLICATION BY EXAMINATION 

Eligibility:  Applicant must be a graduate of a CAPTE accredited physical therapy educational program, approved by the Mississippi Board of Physical Therapy.

The Board should receive a degree in physical therapy from an institution that has been approved for training by the Commission on Accreditation for Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).

Foreign Trained Applicants: If the applicant has received education outside US at a school which is not accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), the applicant must submit a credential evaluation. The evaluation must be prepared by a Board approved agency.

Board approved agencies are:

Foreign Credentialing Commission on Physical Therapy (FCCPT) – www.fccpt.org

International Consultants of Delaware, Inc. – www.icdeval.com

English competency: An applicant whose physical therapy education program was taught in a language other than English should satisfactorily complete the TOEFL, TWE and TSE with a passing score or above.

Instructions for Registering Online for National Physical Therapy Examinations

Mississippi Board of Physical Therapy is using the FSBT website to allow candidates to register online for NPTE. The website the candidate will follow to get registered is https://www.fsbpt.net/pt. The examination lasts for one day for a period of approximately 5.0 hours. The exam consists of approximately 250 multiple-choice questions. The National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) is a computer-based examination given at Prometric Testing Centers.

Once the Mississippi Board determines the eligibility based on the educational qualification and other guidelines it will be intimated that candidate can appear for the online examination. The FSBT will send the candidate an Authorization to Test (ATT) letter.

The ATT letter would contain the all important information about the exam schedules

Where to give the exam: The Prometric Testing Center fee must be paid directly to the Prometric Testing Center at the time of scheduling. Please visit www.prometric.com for further details for place and fees.

FSBPT Score Transfer Service is available on the Internet at: http://www.fsbpt.org . This is done to transfer the score directly to the Board.

PHYSICAL THERAPIST APPLICATION BY ENDORSEMENT 

For applicants from other states who hold a current license in another jurisdiction.

Verification of all registration/certification/licensure must be send directly to the Board office from the state, province, country, or other jurisdiction issuing registration/certification/licensure

Graduates of CAPTE-accredited programs-The applicant must have successfully completed this program. He/she should send the verification of education directly to the office from the institution

Request the NPTE score transfer from the FSBPT at www.fsbpt.net/pt.

Mississippi Jurisprudence Exam: This exam is mandatory for all the candidates to get a license of physical therapist in Mississippi. The exam is open book style by using the regulations and law. Please return the completed exam to the Board’s office. The minimum acceptable score is 70 (seventy).

Other Information 

No license will be issued until the Board office has received and reviewed the background check.

Fees: 

Application fee -$125.00

License fee-PT $150.00

Fingerprint/criminal history processing fee-$50.00

Verify Mississippi Licensure: It can be viewed on the official website https://www.msbpt.ms.gov/licenseverification.asp

Information about jobs and salary

Job in State: As per data of May 2012 there are 1,650 jobs in MississippiState.

Salary: The average mean wage is $78,830. The bottom 10% is at $51,200 and the top 10% is earning a handsome amount of $114,280.

Links for reference

Official Website: https://www.msbpt.ms.gov/index.asp

Exam Websites: http://www.fsbpt.org  , www.prometric.com/fsbpt