How to Become a Physical Therapist in Minnesota (MN)

A woman in her late 60s who is trying to bend her knee after a knee operation. A young man after a soccer match has an ankle sprain and cannot walk. A young lady in a car accident has damaged the neck muscles and cannot look towards the right direction. All of them need a physical therapist in their course of rehabilitation.  Patient of all age is treated by the physical therapist right from infant to the very old. Physical Therapists work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, athletic facilities, schools and private practices.

Association Group Responsible for providing license

In Minnesota, the Minnesota 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.

APPLICATION TO PRACTICE PHYSICAL THERAPY

Minnesota Board of Physical Therapy
University Park Plaza

2829 University Avenue SE, Suite 420
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414-3245
Email: physical.Therapy@state.mn.us
Office: 612.627.5406

Application process

For people from United States

PHYSICAL THERAPIST APPLICATION BY EXAMINATION 

Eligibility: US/Canadian Graduates applicants must successfully complete an accredited physical therapy educational program and pass an approved licensing exam.

The Board should receive a degree in physical therapy from an institution that has been approved for training.

New Graduates who yet to get official degree: The Program Director may mail a certification not more than 2 weeks prior to graduation.

Foreign Trained Applicants: The applicant must submit a credential evaluation. The evaluation must be prepared by a Board approved agency. FCCPT Comprehensive Credentials Evaluation (Type 1 Certificate) OR the FCCPT Educational Credentials Review and TOEFL (information available at http://www.fccpt.org  ) are accepted.

Board approved agency:

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

Instructions for Registering Online for National Physical Therapy Examinations

Minnesota 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.

Once the Minnesota 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 PrometricTestingCenter fee must be paid directly to the PrometricTestingCenter 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.

Exam Scores (NPTE, ASI, or PES) must be sent directly from FSBPT to the Minnesota Board of Physical Therapy indicating a passing score. It can be done from www.fsbpt.net/pt

Physical Therapy Certificate of Education form: From the school showing all didactics and clinical training are complete, submitted directly to the Board office by the school.

Other Information 

ALL PHYSICAL THERAPY LICENSES EXPIRE ON DECEMBER 31 OF EACH YEAR

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Each licensed physical therapist must complete at least 20 contact hours of continuing education credit every two years as a condition of licensure renewal 

TEMPORARY PERMITS FOR NEW PT GRADUATES

Temporary permits to practice physical therapy are available for new graduates before they have taken the NPTE (exam) upon meeting certain conditions.

Verify Minnesota Licensure: It can be viewed on the official website http://www.physicaltherapy.state.mn.us/search.asp

Fees: 

$100.00 – Permanent Licensure Application Fee (required of ALL applicants)

$ 50.00 – Exam Application Processing Fee (only required for new grads and other applicants who need to take the NPTE exam)

$60 Annual Licensure Fee

Information about jobs and salary

Job in State: As per data of May 2012 there are 3,320 jobs in MinnesotaState.

Salary: The average mean wage is $74,720. The bottom 10% is at $57,260 and the top 10% is earning a decent amount of $93,500.

Links for reference

Official Website: http://www.physicaltherapy.state.mn.us

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