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APTA Specialist Certification - Governed by ABPTS

APTA Specialist Certification - Governed by ABPTS

To satisfy the Acute Management of Injury and Illness requirement for initial certification, candidates may select one of two pathways of approved courses. Review these courses and requirements.

You may select from Pathway One, "Options That Meet Full Requirement," or from Pathway 2, "Course Combinations That Meet Full Requirement" to meet the minimum requirements for sports physical therapy specialist certification.

(Note: These lists are not exhaustive and do not indicate any preferred listing by the specialty panel.)

Pathway Options for Initial Certification

Any one course listed below meet the minimum eligibility requirements as determined by the Sports Specialty Council.

Explore Other Options / Pathway Two

To satisfy the Acute Management of Injury and Illness requirement, candidates will need to select one course from the EMR Course Requirements listed below
AND
complete all six Medbridge online courses.

EMR In-Person Requirements

AND

Online Courses Offered by Medbridge That Meet the Minimum Requirements

You need to complete all six courses below, along with one of the in-person requirements above to meet the minimum requirements.

Immediate and Emergency Care online courses by Whetstone-Medbridge 

Pathway Options for Recertification and Maintenance

The below courses meet the minimum eligibility requirements
as determined by the Sports Specialty Council. You only need to complete one from the list below, except where notated. 

  1. Protective Sports Equipment and Proper Fitting
  2. Emergency Management of Athletes with Spine and Visceral Injuries
  3. Environmental Considerations for the Athlete
  4. Emergency Management of Skeletal Injuries
  5. Emergency Management of Soft-Tissue Injuries
  6. Emergency Management of Cardiovascular Conditions

Have a Course That Isn't on the List?

Here's the process and requirements to have your course included in the pathway options.

To have the specialty panel evaluate whether a training course meets the minimum eligibility requirements, you are required to submit an AMII New Course Submission Form, which will require you to provide the following information about the course:

  • Course description.
  • Learning objectives.
  • Course schedule.
  • Content outline.
  • Assessment methods.

Once again complete an AMII New Course Submission Form, then send initial certification requests to spec-cert@apta.org and recertification requests to recert@apta.org.

All courses must meet the approved content outline requirements in order to be considered.

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