In this News Brief:
The Nominating Committee is pleased to announce the slate for this year’s elections, to take place virtually during the Annual Education Meeting, October 22-24. Please read the Candidate Statements to learn more about the candidates.
The Nominating Committee will hold a Candidate Forum in July in conjunction with the 2026 Leadership Issues Forum to introduce 2026 candidates for the Board of Directors and the Nominating Committee. This will be followed by a Candidate Forum in the fall. We will share registration information for these soon.
Please join FSBPT in thanking the 2026 Nominating Committee Members, Adrienne (Stacy) Price (chair), Bernardine Evans, and Mario Baker for their work this year.
Michelle Sigmund-GainesOregonDirector Two
Jonathan BirdIdahoDirector Three
Krista WolfePennsylvaniaDirector Three
Justin BerryNorth DakotaNominating Committee Member
Susan GileKansasNominating Committee Member
The Excellence in Regulation Award recognizes jurisdictions that have made significant accomplishments toward increasing public protection for consumers of physical therapy services in a number of areas. To nominate a jurisdiction, including your own, submit a Nomination Form by Friday, May 29, 2026. Late submissions will not be accepted.
We are accepting presentation ideas and proposals for 2026 webinars.
If you have a specific idea, please submit a proposal. However, we are also interested in learning about jurisdictions' experiences with regulatory topics and your general ideas on what issues we should examine. We encourage all board members, administrators, and other stakeholders to share topics and ideas with us. You can also watch webinars and meeting sessions on FSBPT's YouTube Channel to learn what we've recently covered.
Each month, we will focus on a different statute section from the Model Practice Act and its accompanying commentary. For 2026, the Model Practice Act Moment will focus on Article 3: Examination and Licensure. Last year, in 2025, we covered one of the twelve sections under Article 4: Regulation of Physical Therapy each month. Learn more by reading the Model Practice Act.
4.02 Use of Titles and Terms; Restrictions; Classification of Violation
C. Physical therapists who have graduated from a DPT program may use the title Doctor of Physical Therapy. A physical therapist holding a DPT or other doctoral degree shall not use the title Doctor without also clearly informing the public of his or her profession as a physical therapist. Use of the title shall be in accordance with jurisdictional law.
Commentary
“PT” is the professional and regulatory designation required by practice acts and used by physical therapists in the United States. It should immediately follow the licensee’s name. The model statute language prohibits substituting but does not restrict adding other letter designations indicating an academic degree (e.g., MS, PhD), professional degree (e.g., DPT), certification (e.g., ATC), or honorary status (e.g., FAPTA). All these additional designations should follow the standard “PT” designation. For example, a board-certified orthopedic specialist with a doctoral degree in physical therapy would be appropriately designated as Jane Doe, PT, DPT, OCS.
Those therapists holding a DPT or any doctoral degree such as a PhD or EdD, are entitled to use "Dr" as a prefix to their name in honor of the professional degree they have earned. However, DPT or PhD are academic degrees, not a clinical designator. It is important that the public perceive the critical difference between the word "physician" and the use of the title "Dr." Therefore, in order to minimize confusion, physical therapists should identify themselves and their profession when first meeting a patient. A physical therapist may not use the title of “Dr. ”in a manner which would mislead a patient into assuming that he or she is anything other than a physical therapist.
The FSBPT Board supports its member jurisdictions in their mission to protect the public. Join the ranks of states, including Alabama, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, the Virgin Islands, and West Virginia, that have all taken a big step toward both administrative efficiency and protecting the public. They are currently leveraging FSBPT funding to enhance the ELDD, improve compact privilege implementation, and collect workforce data.
Your state should be next! Learn more about how FSBPT can help your jurisdiction to improve participation in our Examination, Licensure, and Disciplinary Database (ELDD), improve compact privilege implementation, or collect workforce data.
FSBPT offers funding to support its member jurisdictions in their mission to protect the public. If you are interested in more information, please send an email to FSBPT's CEO, Susan Newman, summarizing what you would like to have funded and why it is important or how it can improve efficiencies for your board.
The FSBPT Board is committed to supporting its member jurisdictions in their mission to protect the public. Join the ranks of states, including Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, and the Virgin Islands, that have all taken a big step toward both administrative efficiency and protecting the public. They are currently leveraging FSBPT Grants to enhance the ELDD, improve compact privilege implementation, and collect workforce data.
Your state should be next! Learn more about our available grants to help jurisdictions with enhancing your participation in or communication with our Examination, Licensure, and Disciplinary Database (ELDD), improving compact privilege implementation, or collecting workforce data.
FSBPT offers grant funding to support its member jurisdictions in their mission to protect the public. If you are interested in receiving a grant, please send an email to FSBPT's CEO, Susan Newman, summarizing what you would like to have funded and why it is important or how it can improve efficiencies for your board.
We are hosting multiple upcoming webinars within the FSBPT Portal, allowing you to easily access member resources, groups, and events all in one place! Be sure to register for these upcoming webinars:
June 2026 Regulatory Hour: Dale Atkinson
June 16, 4:00 p.m. ET
July 2026 Regulatory Hour: Amigo Wade
July 7, 4:00 p.m. ET
August 2026 Regulatory Hour: Dale Atkinson
August 18, 4:00 p.m. ET
September 2026 Regulatory Hour: Amigo Wade
September 8, 4:00 p.m. ET
October 2026 Regulatory Hour: Dale Atkinson
October 6, 4:00 p.m. ET
November 2026 Regulatory Hour: Jennifer Semko
November 17, 4:00 p.m. ET (Tentative)
December 2026 Regulatory Hour: Dale Atkinson
December 15, 4:00 p.m. ET
To register, please log in to the FSBPT Portal, select "Events," and click on the event you'd like to register for.
An update on how recent federal legislation, court precedent, and DOJ guidance are reshaping professional license portability for military spouses after a permanent change of station. This article was written by Leslie Adrian, FSBPT, Director of Professional Standards.
Are you looking to improve how your board communicates about sexual misconduct? HRRI designed the Self-Audit Template for board administrators, staff, or board members to assess and improve communications about sexual misconduct. The template can be downloaded and completed manually or converted to an electronic format. Standards include references, examples, and model language that can be tailored to individual jurisdictions. A companion report details a study of all fifty-three jurisdictions that regulate physical therapy in the United States, which found significant gaps in information about sexual misconduct that boards could be providing to licensees and the public; this study led to the development of the self-audit and its rationale.
This month, we thank our generous volunteer members for their support of our mission.
FSBPT provides the following links for your education and awareness, but does not endorse the content.
"Pennsylvania sues AI company, saying its chatbots illegally hold themselves out as licensed doctors," Marc Levy, AP News, May 5, 2026
Pennsylvania has sued an artificial intelligence chatbot maker, saying its chatbots illegally hold themselves out as doctors and are deceiving the system’s users into thinking they are getting medical advice from a licensed professional."
"25 states sue to block federal student loan caps: 6 notes," Mackenzie Bean, Becker's Hospital Review, May 19, 2026"Attorneys general from 25 states and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to block an Education Department rule that limits which degree programs qualify for higher federal student loan limits."
"APTA Opposes Education Department's Final Rule Restricting Federal Student Loans," APTA, May 1, 2026
"APTA is deeply concerned that the U.S. Department of Education failed to meaningfully consider thousands of public comments outlining strong policy arguments against its proposed rule and clear evidence that the doctor of physical therapy degree meets the federal definition of a professional degree in finalizing its latest rule. This rule will significantly restrict borrowing for future students pursuing a DPT degree at a time of nationwide health care workforce shortages and rising demand for physical therapist services."
"Why U.S. Test Scores Are in a 'Generation-Long Decline,'" Claire Cain Miller, Francesca Paris, Sarah Mervosh, The New York Times, May 13, 2026
"Almost everywhere in America, students are performing worse than their peers were 10 years ago, according to new, district-level test score data released Wednesday by the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford."
Members of the board of directors serve as liaisons to multiple jurisdictions.
Stephen Curley Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia
Craig Miller Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Utah
David Relling Hawaii, New Jersey, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Virgin Islands
Steven Scherger Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas
Michelle Sigmund-Gaines Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming
Michele Thorman Delaware, District of Columbia, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, Virginia, and Wisconsin
Krista Wolfe Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont
Charles E. Reiter The public member of the board does not serve as a liaison to jurisdictions
FSBPT’s Board of Directors wants members to know staff is available to assist any jurisdiction with writing statutory or regulatory language. When you are crafting new laws or regulations/rules, especially involving FSBPT products such as the NPTE or Coursework Tool, or controversial topics such as dry needling, FSBPT is a resource to remember!
Subject
Point of Contact/Email Address
ADA accommodations
Christine Sousa, ext. 201
Assessment or examination development questions
Lorin Mueller npte@fsbpt.org
Continuing competence
Jeffrey M. Rosa, ext. 239
Credentials review
Jaime Nolan, FCCPT
ELDD- Exam, Licensure and Disciplinary Database participation
eldd@fsbpt.org
Exam registration processing
Foreign educated issues
Leslie Adrian, ext. 233
Immigration
Jamie Nolan, ext. 403
JAM- Jurisprudence Assessment Module
JAM@fsbpt.org
Legislation or Model Practice Act
Meeting arrangements
Paul Delaney, ext. 223
NPDB reports/questions
Angela Burnham, 249
PTC- Physical Therapy Compact
compact@fsbpt.org
PEAT®- Practice Exam & Assessment Tool
peat@fsbpt.org
Reimbursement of expenses and other financial matters
David Sigman, ext. 226
School reports
schoolreports@fsbpt.org
Score transfer & reporting
SCP PET- Supervised Clinical Practice Performance Evaluation Tool
scppet@fsbpt.org
Security issues
Susan Newman security@fsbpt.org
Anything else, including news to share with members
Susan NewmanCaitlin Jennings Communications@fsbpt.org
Each month, we highlight an FSBPT staff member or volunteer and share how their role supports our mission of protecting the public.Richard McDougall Long Term Service Award recipient Sherri Paru has served FSBPT in many capacities over the past twenty years. Currently a member of the Model Language for Code of Ethics for Licensing Board Task Force and the Resolutions Committee, she has also been a member of the Nominating Committee, Sexual Misconduct and Boundaries Committee, Education Committee, and the PT Compact Compliance Committee. Sherri has also served as an NPTE item writer and is currently an item writing coordinator. In her role as Oregon PT Board Clinical Advisor and Investigator, she has also shared her expertise as a speaker at many national conferences, including the FSBPT Annual Education Meeting and FSBPT webinars, including: "This Could Never Happen to Me" and "Navigating Multi-State Investigations: Best Practices and Strategies." We are grateful for Sherri's continued contributions to FSBPT. Thank you for everything you do!
Susan L. Newman, CEO