Talk:Doctor of Physical Therapy

Prescribing authority

Are DPT's able to prescribe medication? I have heard that DPT's are able to prescribe if they are military and also that some states, but not all, allow certain meds but not all to be prescribed by DPT's and in other states DPT's are unable to prescribe any medication, not even reccomend over-the-counter meds. Thanks.

DPT's have no different rights that any other practicing PT. In the military PT's are allowed to prescribe certain medications and order diagnostic imaging...much in the same rights of a Physician Assistant or Nurse Practitioner. Military allows PTs to be considered Physician Extenders. This does not translate to the civilian world. In most states there are laws allowing PT's to have direct access to patients; most of these however are limited by commercial insurance and Medicare. The allowance of prescribing OTC medication is debatable and is dependent on that particular state practice act. StonerDPT 01:23, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

The DPT degree

The June 22 2007 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education has a great article on the rise of professional doctorates from professional M.S. degrees in the U.S. (focusing on physical and occupational therapy), and concerns related to them. JJL 18:00, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Although the APTA states their "Visions" or should we say "marketing campaign", that the DPT is superior to the MSPT or even the BSPT. The fact remains that those who have previously completed an accredited physical therapy training program either the BSPT or MSTP hold the exact same license and have the exact same scope of practice as any DPT grad. It may be their "vision" that converting the degree to something with the word "doctor" in it will grant physical therapists more power and autonomy. However, nothing has changed yet; and if any changes do occur, than any new rights and privileges will also be granted to anyone else holding a state license to practice physical therapy (i.e. BSPT and MSTP grads). Jwri7474 (talk) 23:39, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

License and Scope of Practice

It should be noted that both the license to practice and scope of practice between a BSPT, a MSPT, and a DPT physical therapist is exactly the same. Jwri7474 (talk) 04:40, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Please sign your posts. Your edit summary states: "Please source your claim that an MSPT grad and a DPT grad don't hold equal licenses and scope of practice." I don't see that claim anywhere. I'm not sure what the editor meant, but "equally qualified" doesn't have to mean anything more than basic therapeutic skills, and that happens to be true. That's how I, a PT, understood it. Don't read too much into it. Why edit war over something when both of you are making unsourced statements? -- Fyslee / talk 04:32, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

To say that they are not equally qualified would suggest that the DPT graduate would be able to do things that an MSPT grad would not be able to do (i.e. that they had a different scope of practice or held a license with fewer restrictions). This is untrue. Thanks. Jwri7474 (talk) 04:40, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Please provide the diff for that statement. -- Fyslee / talk 05:18, 6 August 2008 (UTC)