About Specialist Certification
The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), a national
professional organization representing more than 73,330 members
throughout the United States, established the specialist certification
program in 1978. Specialization is the process by which a physical
therapist builds on a broad base of professional education and practice
to develop a greater depth of knowledge and skills related to a
particular area of practice. Clinical specialization in physical therapy
responds to a specific area of patient need and requires knowledge,
skill, and experience exceeding that of the physical therapist at entry
to the profession and unique to the specialized area of practice. The
specialist certification program was established to provide formal
recognition for physical therapists with advanced clinical knowledge,
experience, and skills in a special area of practice and to assist
consumers and the health care community in identifying these physical
therapists.
History
APTA's House of Delegates approved the concept of specialization in 1976
and established the Task Force on Clinical Specialization, which
developed the Essentials for Certification of Advanced
Clinical Competence in Physical Therapy. The House of Delegates
adopted this document in 1978. The House of Delegates appointed the
Commission for Certification of Advanced Clinical Competence, the
predecessor to ABPTS, in 1979. As each of the specialty areas was
recognized by the House of Delegates, ABPTS appointed a specialty
council that identified and defined advanced skills, established
eligibility criteria, and developed the examination. The Specialty
Council on Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy was the first to complete
the process, and the cardiopulmonary specialist certification
examination was first administered in 1985. Since then, seven additional
specialty areas - Clinical Electrophysiology, Geriatrics, Neurology,
Orthopaedics, Pediatrics, Sports, and Women's Health Physical Therapy -
have been established.
Purposes of the Clinical Specialization Program
The purposes of APTA's Clinical Specialization Program are to:
- Assist in the identification and development of appropriate areas of
specialty practice in physical therapy.
- Promote the highest possible level of care for individuals seeking
physical therapy services in each specialty area.
- Promote development of the science and the art underlying each
specialty area of practice.
- Provide a reliable and valid method for certification and
recertification of individuals who have attained an advanced level of
knowledge and skill in each specialty area.
- Assist consumers, the health care community, and others in
identifying certified clinical specialists in each specialty area.
- Serve as a resource in specialty practice for APTA, the physical
therapy profession, and the health care community.
Elements of
the Clinical Specialization Program
Three essential elements of APTA's Clinical Specialization
Program:
1. It is a voluntary process. Participation in the certification
process is initiated only at the request of the individual.
2. It is a nonrestrictive process. No attempt is made to prohibit
others from practicing in a specific area, and board-certified physical
therapists are not required to restrict their practice to the area in
which they are certified.
3. It is a coordinated process. A central mechanism is provided for
certifying specialists. This reduces duplication of effort and provides
reasonable uniformity in the level and type of standards used as the
basis for certification.
Specialty Councils
After APTA's House of Delegates approved each of the eight specialty
areas, ABPTS appointed a specialty council in the areas of
cardiovasculary and pulmonary, clinical electrophysiologic, geriatric,
neurologic, orthopaedic, pediatric, sports, and women's health physical
therapy. Each specialty council is composed of three physical therapists
with expertise in that specialty area.
Responsibilities
Specialty Council responsibilities include the following:
- Delineation of the advanced knowledge, skills, and abilities for
their specialty areas and production of the Description of Advanced
Clinical Practice/Description of Specialty Practice document.
- Determination of the academic and clinical requirements for initial
certification and recertification
- Screening applicants for eligibility to sit for exams.
- Developing the assessment tools, including the certification
examination, for initial certification and recertification, in
consultation with the ABPTS testing agency and ABPTS-approved
consultants.
Minimum Eligibility Requirements for Specialist Certification
ABPTS has established minimum eligibility requirements to sit for the
specialist certification examinations: (1) current licensure to practice
physical therapy in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, or the Virgin Islands and (2) evidence of a minimum of 2,000 hours
of clinical practice in the specialty area, 25% of which must have
occurred within the last 3 years.
Specialty councils, with the approval of ABPTS, develop specific
requirements to be eligible to sit for the certification examination in
their specialty area. These requirements vary across specialty areas and
include factors such as evidence of hours in general physical therapy
practice, hours of direct patient care, and evidence of competency in
cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency care.
Specialist Certification Examinations
The specialty councils of ABPTS develop the specialist certification
examinations. The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), a
not-for-profit institution whose mission is to provide the
highest-quality testing and research services to organizations involved
in the licensure and certification of medical and health science
professionals, provides test development, test administration, editorial
production, and psychometric services to ABPTS and the specialty
councils.
Examination Development
The specialty councils make the determination on the content areas to
be covered on the examination and the number of items in each area,
based on the results of a practice analysis. This practice analysis,
also referred to as a job analysis, is a systematic plan to study
professional practice behaviors and knowledge that comprise the practice
of the specialist. The practice analysis is described in detail in the
Description of Advanced Clinical Practice (DACP)/Description
of Specialty Practice (DSP) for each specialty area. The practice
analysis is a description, based on survey data and expert judgments, of
the task and roles as well as the expected knowledge, skills, and
abilities of physical therapists who possess advanced clinical skills in
the area of specialty practice.
The specialty council uses the results of the practice analysis to
write or revise a set of test specifications for the examination. The
test specifications, also referred to as the content outline or
examination blueprint, provide an outline of the content of the exam and
consist of the percentage of questions representing each competency on
the examination. The blueprint also helps to guide the development of an
appropriate number of items for each area included in the examination
blueprint.
Although the specialty councils are responsible for examination
construction, ABPTS oversees all item-writing activities and evaluates
the item-writing process. Questions or exam items are written to reflect
the test specifications by content-area experts currently practicing in
the specialty area, including practitioners and academicians,
representing the full range of practice settings in all regions of the
country. Item writers attend workshops and receive instruction to enable
them to write high-quality, practice-related test items. Test items
undergo extensive editing and review by subject-matter experts and
professional test editors before the council approves them to be placed
on an examination.
Specialization of Content Experts (SACE) and Committee of Content
Experts (CCE)
The item-writing process is coordinated through the Specialization of
Content Experts (SACE) and the Committee of Content Experts (CCE). ABPTS
established SACE to create a cadre of trained item writers to facilitate
the production of high-quality test items. Members of the Committee of
Content Experts (CCE) are experienced item writers who serve as mentors
for SACE members in their specialty area. ABPTS appoints members of SACE
and CCE, upon recommendation from specialty councils.
Test Construction
The specialty councils construct the examinations in conjunction with
NBME staff, including professional test editors. Each specialty council
meets annually with testing agency staff to review new and existing
items in the test item bank, which is stored and managed by NBME.
Shortly after the item review meeting, a specialty examination of
approximately 200 items is constructed. The questions are designed to
test synthesis and analysis levels of cognitive skills as well as
content knowledge. The examination is composed of objective
multiple-choice questions with four answer choices. The questions either
stand alone or are part of a series that relates to a presented case
study.
Examination Administration
NBME administers the specialist certification examinations through
Prometric, a division of Thompson Learning, Inc. The examinations
are administered by computer under proctored conditions at multiple
sites across the US that meet high standards of equipment, comfort, and
security. Following each administration, examinee responses are
electronically transmitted to NBME.
Examination Scoring
After key validation, a procedure designed to identify items that may
be miskeyed or not functioning as expected, candidates' responses are
scored and converted to standard scores. The standard scores are scaled
so that the minimum passing score on each examination is 500.
The certification examinations assess a clearly defined domain of
knowledge and skills. Candidates are certified upon achievement of a
passing score on the examination.
Standard Setting
The specialist certification examinations are criterion referenced,
and the passing score for the examination is based on the content of the
exam and an analysis of candidate performance.
Each specialty council forms a standard-setting committee composed of
individuals who represent the spectrum of practitioners in the specialty
area and who are diverse in the origins of their practice, theoretical
approaches, practice setting, geographic area, sex, and race. Each
standard-setting committee then participates in a content-based
standard-setting study conducted by NBME. An outcome of each committee's
standard-setting study meeting is the recommendation of a passing
standard for the respective specialty examination. ABPTS makes a final
decision regarding passing standards for each of the specialty
examinations.
Reporting Examination Results
NBME scores the specialist certification examinations, and candidates
are issued a report that specifies their score, the passing score on the
examination, and an analysis of performance according to the major
competency areas tested. Although the score is based on the actual
number of questions answered correctly, it is a scaled score. ABPTS
requires a scaled score of 500 to pass the examination.
Recertification
The purpose of recertification is to verify current competence as an
advanced practitioner in a specialty area and to encourage ongoing
education and professional growth. To maintain the certified specialist
designation, individuals must recertify every ten 10 years.
Profile of a Certified Specialist
Click
here for rosters of newly certified clinical specialists by
specialty area, residing state, chapter affiliation, and for a numbers
chart of certified specialists in physical therapy, for 1985 - 2009.
As of 2009, there are 9,409 individuals who have been certified as
clinical specialists. The breakdown by specialty areas is as
follows:
|
Specialty Area
|
Number of Certified Specialists
|
|
Cardiopulmonary
|
138
|
|
Clinical Electrophysiologic
|
139
|
|
Geriatric
|
1006
|
|
Neurologic
|
757
|
|
Orthopaedic
|
5590
|
|
Pediatric
|
943
|
|
Sports
|
775
|
|
Women's Health
|
61
|
[Last updated: 09/28/09 | Contact: spec-cert@apta.org]
|
