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TThe NPTE Quarterly Faculty Newsletter is published by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) as one mechanism to communicate with faculty in physical therapist and physical therapist assistant programs. This effort to provide ongoing communication includes current information and updates on the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) as well as information on other regulatory issues that might impact or be of interest to program faculty. Subscription to the newsletter is free to all physical therapist and physical therapist assistant program faculty. Please contact communications@fsbpt.org for subscription information, feedback and comments.
2008 NPTE Workshops for Faculty
New Layout for Federation Website
New Forms of NPTE Launched March 1, 2008
New PEAT Forms Available March 31, 2008
Planned Learning and Assessment Network (PLAN)
Cheating in the News
What Students Need to Know
This Quarter’s Question
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2008 NPTE Workshops for Faculty
September 12-14, 2008: Hyatt Regency, Minneapolis, MN
This workshop is designed to provide faculty members with an increased knowledge of the National Physical Therapy Examination program, which may benefit their program and students.
Registration is open for this workshop. More information can be found online at www.fsbpt.org under “News and Events.” You may also email facultyworkshop@fsbpt.org.
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New Layout for the Federation Website
Last week we posted a new layout on the Federation’s website, www.fsbpt.org, which we hope will provide easier navigation for our members, licensees, students, faculty and consumers of physical therapy. One of the best new features is the Search function on the upper left side of the website.
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New Forms of NPTE Launched March 1, 2008
The Federation completed its latest practice analysis in 2006. The results of the practice analysis were used to update the content outlines for the 2008 PT and PTA NPTE effective March 1, 2008. The content outlines delineate the major content areas of the examinations.
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New PEAT Forms Available March 31, 2008
The 2008 NPTE content outlines have been used to develop the exams given as part of the Practice Exam and Assessment Tool (PEAT). The new PT and PTA PEAT forms will be available to candidates beginning the week of March 31, 2008.
Therefore, if a student purchases PEAT prior to March 31, 2008, regardless of when they access the exam, they will receive practice exams based on the old content outline. All purchases made March 31, 2008 and later will contain practice exams based on the updated content outline.
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Planned Learning Assistance Network: P.L.A.N.
The Foreign Credentialing Commission on Physical Therapy (FCCPT) has a new service to assist foreign educated candidates, which may be of interest to physical therapy programs as well. This service assists those foreign educated candidates that were deemed NOT to have a substantially equivalent education to US physical therapy graduates.
The Planned Learning Assistance Network (P.L.A.N.) counselor identifies deficiencies and appropriate professional educational courses that candidates could take. The goal would be for those foreign educated candidates to obtain an education substantially equivalent to the first professional PT degree in the US. Last year in an online survey, a number of you identified possible courses that these candidates could take.
The common course/content area deficiencies in professional education are:
- Administration/Management
- Cardiopulmonary System
- Community Health/Wellness
- Differential Diagnosis
- Evaluation – Clinical Decision Making
- Geriatrics
- Integumentary System
- Legal and Ethics Aspects (Professional Behaviors)
- Pediatrics
- Pharmacology
- Supervised Clinical Practice
Many courses are taught in transitional DPT curricula and are conveniently provided in a distance education model. This format is especially conducive to the foreign educated candidate. Other content areas may be met using an independent studies model which might be onsite as well as online.
We are very interested in assisting physical therapy program directors and faculty to become more involved in the P.L.A.N. program. Some academic programs may see the P.L.A.N. service as an opportunity to add diversity to the learning environment, as well as to fiscally enhance their program.
We welcome more dialogue, questions, suggestions from each of you as we develop and expand this exciting educational opportunity for both the academic programs and the foreign educated physical therapy candidate. Please contact communications@fsbpt.org for comments or questions.
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Cheating in the News
Dental Educators Respond to Ethical Breach
In December 2006, the American Dental Association reported investigations, hearings and disciplinary actions for dental student at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Dental School and University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Medicine. These investigations, hearings and disciplinary actions were initiated by the schools themselves.
At the New Jersey Dental School, two paths were taken: one for those who came forward and fully disclosed involvement and one for those who did not. Those who disclosed went to the mediation board; those who did not participated in a full hearing conducted by the NJDS hearing board. All students were required to have additional training in ethics. Some were required to do procedures that had not actually been done and were required to spend anywhere from two weeks to one extra year in school. One student will not be receiving a DMD degree.
To read the complete article go to http://www.ada.org/ and enter “Educators respond to ethical breach” in the Search box.
SAT Prep Center Being Sued
In February, the College Entrance Examination Board (College Board), which develops and maintains the SAT for college entrance requirements, filed a lawsuit against a college prep company for the unauthorized copying and distribution of large numbers of copyrighted SAT and PSAT forms. The lawsuit alleges that the college prep company shared a nearly verbatim copy of a live SAT form used by the College Board. The particular copy was named the PVA, which stood for “Pirated Version.” Included in the lawsuit is the allegation that a copy of the PSAT was obtained from the principal of a high school in Texas. The College Board states that the cost of creating a replacement SAT form is at least $625,000 and may be considerably higher. This may include the invalidation of test results of the test prep company students, whose scores were, through no fault of the students, compromised by the wrongdoing of the company.
Texas Test Prep Company and its Owner Concede Infringement of PEAT Materials and Settle Claims by FSBPT
On January 4, 2008, FSBPT filed claims of copyright infringement against Hare Krishna Educational Consultants (“Hare Krishna”), a Texas-based NPTE test prep company, and its owner, Ankush Bhargava, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. With authorization from a federal judge, FSBPT attorneys and U.S. marshals conducted an unannounced raid on Bhargava’s home (which served as Hare Krishna’s headquarters) and seized infringing copies of FSBPT’s copyrighted PEAT materials.
On February 20, 2008, FSBPT reached a settlement with Hare Krishna and Bhargava, and the case has been dismissed. As part of the settlement agreement, Bhargava has acknowledged that his reproduction and sale of FSBPT’s copyrighted test materials was illegal and has apologized for his actions. The settlement agreement also requires him to make a monetary payment to FSBPT and enjoins him from further infringement. Hare Krishna is also required for one year to post a visible notice on its web site acknowledging the illegality of selling a third party’s exam materials and promising a refund to customers who have purchased these materials. Bhargava is licensed to practice physical therapy in New York and Texas
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What Students Need to Know
Improved Candidate and Licensee Services Available Online
Last week, a new Candidate and Licensee Services section of our website was launched. Candidates and licensees can register for any of our exams, purchase additional services such as score transfers or PEAT, see the status of their requested services, or update their profiles online.
To access this website, go to www.fsbpt.org and click on the “Candidate and Licensee Home” hyperlink on the top right side.
Other highlights include:
- Additional services, including Performance Feedback Reports and Individual Score Reports, will now be available for purchase online.
- Requested online services will be available for download from the “Status of My Request” section.
- Authorization to Test (ATT) letters will also be available for download from the “Status of My Request” section once a candidate has been made eligible by the jurisdiction.
- Candidates and licensees will now be able to add a payment by credit card online to an existing service request.
If you have any questions regarding these upgrades, please contact Christine Sousa.
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This Quarter’s Question
Is there anything on the new Federation website, www.fsbpt.org that might be of particular interest to faculty?
Yes, you’ll see a new section called “For Faculty” on the left hand navigation bar. All faculty members can view most of this section without having to log on. It provides faculty members with access to archived Faculty Newsletters, the list of textbooks used by PT and PTA programs, school codes and “Your Questions” from the Faculty Newsletters. The “Your Questions” section provides information on the National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE), school pass rate reports, Practice Exam & Assessment Tool (PEAT), and state practice acts.
The only section in “For Faculty” that continues to require a username and password is the School Reports section, also known as the School Administrator website. This website is where administrators can order and print pass rate reports for their school.
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