In this News Brief:
At the Annual Education Meeting and the CBA Forum this month, the following individuals were elected to serve. We congratulate these members and are grateful for their willingness to serve in these leadership roles! Previously, at the virtual Delegate Assembly, the proposed bylaws amendment was approved, and all 53 member jurisdictions cast their vote during the Assembly.
Michelle Sigmund-GainesOregonDirector 2
Krista WolfePennsylvaniaDirector 3
Justin BerryNorth DakotaNominating Committee Member
Jason KaiserCaliforniaCBA Vice Chair
Judy ChepeusArizonaCBA Nominating Committee
FSBPT recently launched the pilot version of the Public License Lookup website, which contains the licensure and compact privilege information for the ten pilot jurisdictions. The long-term vision is a robust, nationwide search platform that leverages individual license records and advanced search capabilities to deliver accurate and intuitive results.To help FSBPT develop the next steps in the project, we need your feedback! Please visit the pilot website and then complete the brief eight-question survey.
The 2027 Regulatory Workshop will take place April 1-3 at The Westin Alexandria Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia.
Whether you’re new to regulation or have attended the workshop before, this is a great opportunity to strengthen your understanding of regulation and your role in protecting the public. First-time attendees can build a strong foundation, while returning attendees can refresh their knowledge, reconnect with key concepts, and continue building their regulatory expertise.
Please express your interest in attending by completing this form. You can indicate whether you are interested in attending virtually or in person.
This workshop is for current members and staff of member boards. FSBPT covers costs. Because space is limited, we prioritize in-person attendance for first-time participants. We also consider geographic balance to help ensure that every jurisdiction has the opportunity to benefit from the training. Additional in-person attendees will be accommodated as space permits.
Are you interested in serving on one of the committees below beginning January 1, 2027?
Learn more about these opportunities on our website. To apply, log into the FSBPT Portaland complete the volunteer application (located under "Members Area > Get Involved).Please note that within the FSBPT Membership Volunteer Application, you can also express interest in volunteering for PT Compact and HRRI committees and task forces.Don't see an opportunity that interests you but have ideas you'd like to share? Contact us!
FSBPT has educational videos on YouTube and the Sexual Misconduct and Boundary Violations resource page to help physical therapy licensees better understand and uphold professional boundaries. The four videos — Nature of Relationships, Process-Oriented Boundaries, Power Dynamics, and Sexual Misconduct: The Big Picture — provide licensees with foundational knowledge on the dynamics of the therapeutic relationship, the importance of maintaining appropriate boundaries, and the broader context of sexual misconduct in physical therapy practice. These free resources, which boards are encouraged to use and post on their own websites, are part of FSBPT's ongoing commitment to supporting ethical, safe, and professional conduct among PTs and PTAs.
We are accepting presentation ideas and proposals for 2026 and 2027 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.
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 jurisdiction should be next! Learn more about how our financial assistance program works to help your jurisdiction. Think this won’t work for your jurisdiction? FSBPT has several ways to make our assistance available under your laws and rules.
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.
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:
November 2026 Regulatory Hour: Jennifer SemkoThe Good, The Bad and the Crazy: The Most Intriguing Recent Legal Cases November 17, 4:00 p.m. ETJoin us for the latest installment of the legal education session—with a twist. Jennifer Semko returns with a lighthearted take on some of the most interesting recent US legal cases. From noteworthy regulatory rulings to ridiculous lawsuits that somehow made it to court, this session will inform and entertain you and will ensure that you never look at lawyers quite the same way again.
December 2026 Regulatory Hour: Dale AtkinsonYear in Review - Significant Legislative & Judicial Decisions 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.
Each month, we will focus on a different statute section from the Model Practice Act and its accompanying commentary. For 2026, September was the last installment of Article 3: Examination and Licensure. This month is a look back to the beginning. Learn more by reading the Model Practice Act.
FSBPT was organized in 1986. Soon thereafter, discussion began about the feasibility of developing model language for physical therapy practice acts. It wasn’t until 1994 that the FSBPT Board of Directors appointed an eight-member task force, and their work was completed in 1997 with the publication of The Model Practice Act for Physical Therapy: A Tool for Public Protection and Legislative Change.
Over decades the various physical therapy practice acts have contained functional and useful regulatory language but also some problematic language. Most jurisdictional practice acts had their origins in the 1950s and early 1960s, and amendments have turned some practice acts into cobbled-together collections of regulatory language that are very diverse in their approach to the basic board responsibility of protecting the public and regulating the profession.
The task force originally envisioned a model act that could be used cafeteria style to allow states to change a specific section of a practice act as needed. While the Model Practice Act can be used effectively this way, those who study this document will find a tightly constructed and integrated model for the regulation of physical therapy. The component sections of this model fit together well and complement other sections. Certain areas of this model act are indispensable from others and changes in one of these areas will require additional modification of a jurisdiction’s practice act in other areas. The commentary sections of this Model Practice Act will identify important cross-links in statute language. Since 1997 many states have enacted large portions and, in some instances, nearly the entire Model Practice Act as their jurisdiction statute.
As regulatory changes are made in jurisdiction practice acts, FSBPT suggests the use of terms and statute language as recommended in this model act. This underscores the importance of a “model” act and will help avoid further confusion of terminology and regulation from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and occasionally within the same practice act.
FSBPT is exploring a licensure lookup tool across jurisdictions to enhance public protection, transparency, and efficiency by providing accurate, centralized information about physical therapist and physical therapist assistant licensure statuses and disciplinary actions. This article is based on a presentation by Dustin Dollar and Michelle Sigmund-Gaines at the 2025 Annual Education Meeting.
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.
"Gen Z seems to appreciate TikTok doctors more than the ones seen in person," October 6, 2006, Dave Pearson, HealthExec
"Many young people between 14 and 29 years old are getting health advice from physicians who double as social media influencers (SMIs) on the TikTok platform. In fact, these members of Generation Z don’t even seem to mind if their favorite TikTok docs are not, in fact, credentialed healthcare professionals."
"When Doctors Become Influencers: How Social Media Presence Disarms Persuasion Knowledge and Shapes Consumer Behaviors," September 22, 2026, Suzanne C. Makarem, Brittany B. Beck, Jie G. Fowler, The Journal of Consumer Affairs
"This research integrates impression management theory and the persuasion knowledge model to examine how consumers perceive and respond to physicians on social media. Using a mixed-methods approach across two studies, we identify effective self-presentation practices used by these credentialed professional influencers to signal competence, authenticity, and benevolence. We enrich influencer marketing literature and extend impression management theory by illustrating a strategic professional–personal imbalance where credentialed professionals prioritize competence signaling and selectively incorporate personal elements. These strategies help them maintain authority while mitigating perceptions of overt persuasion and may foster increased recommendation adherence. We propose a theory-building mechanism, the mere social media presence effect, whereby credentialed professionals' social media presence disarms consumer persuasion knowledge and enhances perceived effectiveness beyond traditional expert–consumer interactions. These findings advance understanding of consumer persuasion in information-asymmetric digital environments and, in the healthcare context, offer implications for health communication, physician influencer effectiveness, and consumer well-being."
"Utah Adds Healthcare Pillar to Pro-Human AI Initiative, Names Six Independent Evaluators," October 6, 2026, Max Tullis, Tech Buzz News
"Utah added a Healthcare pillar to its Pro-Human AI Initiative, signed six independent third-party evaluators, and approved five healthcare sandbox pilots, including University of Utah Health, Intermountain Health, Nolla Health, Expect Fitness, and August AI."
"Nurses celebrate historic victory as Gov. Newsom signs landmark A.I. protection into law," September 30, 2026, California Nurses Association
"Union nurses with California Nurses Association (CNA) celebrated a hard-fought victory today as Governor Gavin Newsom signed a CNA-sponsored bill, AB 1979 authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta (AD-18), into law. The new law establishes landmark protections for patients and health care workers against the unsafe use of artificial intelligence (A.I.) in health care."
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!
Each month, we highlight an FSBPT staff member or volunteer and share how their role supports our mission of protecting the public.
Jenny Lapnawan, PT, joined FSBPT in 2018 as an Assessment Content Analyst, serving as an in-house subject matter expert supporting the development of the NPTE. In 2023, she transitioned to her current role as Post-Licensure Services Manager, where she contributes to two key FSBPT initiatives. First, she leads the development and maintenance of FSBPT’s jurisprudence products, including the Jurisprudence Assessment Module (JAM), which helps licensees understand the laws and regulations governing practice in a particular jurisdiction. She also oversees the day-to-day operations of the PT Compact, collaborating with member jurisdictions, Compact committees, and other stakeholder groups to support its effective administration.
Through her work building regulatory tools, supporting interstate licensure mobility, and collaborating with regulators and volunteers across the country, Jenny helps ensure that boards have the resources they need to fulfill our collective mission of protecting the public while improving access to physical therapy services
Susan L. Newman, CEO
Subject
Point of Contact/Email Address
ADA accommodations
Christine Sousa, ext. 201
Assessment or examination development questions
Tara Myers, PhD 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
Jaime Nolan, ext. 403
JAM- Jurisprudence Assessment Module
communications@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
Richard Woolf rwoolf@fsbpt.org
Anything else, including news to share with members
Susan NewmanCaitlin Jennings Communications@fsbpt.org