24.177.501    EXAMINATIONS

(1) The examination will be the national physical therapy exam (NPTE) or another equivalent examination as the board may, in its discretion, approve and adopt for physical therapist applicants. The examination for physical therapist assistants will be the national physical therapist assistant examination (NPTAE) or another equivalent examination as the board may, in its discretion, approve and adopt.

(2) Exact examination dates will be established by the current testing service as the national uniform testing dates.

(3) Applicants for examination shall file with the board office an application which shall include the following:

(a) application fee; and

(b) either:

(i) a copy of the applicant's certificate of graduation or transcripts demonstrating graduation from a board-approved physical therapy school or physical therapist assistant curriculum; or

(ii) a letter from and bearing the signature of the program director, department chairperson, or similarly authorized official in a board-approved physical therapy school or physical therapist assistant curriculum stating that the applicant is a student at the physical therapy school or physical therapist assistant curriculum, is in good standing, and is expected to graduate at the next scheduled graduation date.

(4) The earliest date on which an applicant for examination may take the examination is the examination date nearest to and before the applicant's expected graduation date.

(5) The applicant shall score a passing grade equal to or higher than a scaled score of 600, the criterion-referenced passing point recommended nationally by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. The passing score on the jurisprudence examination shall be 90 percent.

(a) All applicants who have previously taken the NPTE in any jurisdiction shall submit a request for test history verification and the fee to the testing service.

(6) The jurisprudence examination shall be an open book examination covering current Montana physical therapy statutes and rules, subject to Title 37, chapters 1 and 11, MCA, standards of care and definition of moral turpitude. The jurisprudence examination must be passed by all examination and out-of-state applicants before original licensure will be granted. Separate provisions will be made for taking the jurisprudence examination prior to licensure. Applicants failing the jurisprudence examination must retake said examination until passed. The fee of each retake will be assessed in accordance with the established fee schedule.

 

History: 37-1-131, 37-11-201, MCA; IMP, 37-1-131, 37-1-304, 37-11-303, 37-11-304, MCA; NEW, 1979 MAR p. 1243, Eff. 10/12/79; AMD, 1980 MAR p. 1607, Eff. 6/13/80; TRANS, from Dept. of Prof. & Occup. Lic., Ch. 274, L. 1981, Eff. 7/1/81; AMD, 1982 MAR p. 593, Eff. 3/26/82; AMD, 1983 MAR p. 1664, Eff. 11/11/83; AMD, 1986 MAR p. 792, Eff. 5/16/86; AMD, 1990 MAR p. 2107, Eff. 11/30/90; AMD, 1994 MAR p. 159, Eff. 1/28/94; AMD, 1994 MAR p. 1583, Eff. 6/10/94; AMD, 1995 MAR p. 2483, Eff. 11/23/95; AMD, 1997 MAR p. 38, Eff. 1/17/97; AMD, 1997 MAR p. 1359, Eff. 8/5/97; AMD, 2001 MAR p. 344, Eff. 2/23/01; TRANS, from Commerce, 2005 MAR p. 380; AMD, 2012 MAR p. 1526, Eff. 7/27/12; AMD, 2015 MAR p. 1907, Eff. 10/30/15; AMD, 2021 MAR p. 1926, Eff. 12/24/21.