New Standards Announced for Physical Therapy Residency, Fellowship Program Accreditation

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) reports that physical therapist (PT) residency and fellowship education programs enrolling their first participants after December 31 will be required to follow new standards for the American Board for Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education (ABTRFE) accreditation. The new procedures include applying for and obtaining recognition as a developing program followed by applying for and obtaining candidate status.

According to an APTA news release, if a residency or fellowship program is presently developing and plans to enroll its first participant on or before December 31, 2014, the program must apply for accreditation utilizing the current procedures by December 31, 2014. Any program that will not enroll its first participant until after December 31, 2014, must follow the new accreditation procedures.

For more information on the ABPTRFE Rules of Practice and Procedure details on these new procedures, visit: www.abptrfe.org/About/NewProceduresforAccreditation.

Source: APTA