What do physical therapy residency training and orthopedic specialization entail?
To become a physical therapist, the required entry degree is now a Doctorate in Physical Therapy! That’s right, we’re now Doctors. After graduation, physical therapists can practice as generalists, or they can pursue additional clinical education to specialize in different areas of PT practice. This continuing education can take the form of weekend certification courses, residency programs, board certifications in specialty areas, and fellowships. This blog is going to emphasize residency training and what that looks like.
What is residency training?
When a physical therapist opts to complete a residency program, they are signing up for 12-15 months of rigorous training with specialized mentorship in a specific area of PT practice (i.e. orthopedics, neurology, acute care). Many programs include opportunities for residents to teach the next generation of Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students, participate in research to advance the physical therapy profession and engage in mentorship from certified clinical specialists to work towards becoming an expert in a specific field of PT. The main goal of residency training is to create experts in specific fields of PT practice while also preparing clinicians to teach current DPT students and encourage research contributions to advance the profession of physical therapy. After successful completion of a residency program, residents are eligible to take a specialization exam in a specific area of physical therapy signifying expertise in that field of clinical practice.
Who can become a clinical certified specialist?
There are two routes to becoming a clinically certified specialist in an area of PT practice. The most common route is through completion of an accredited residency program in that area of specialization. The other option is to complete 2,000 hours of clinical practice in that specialty area to be approved to take the specialization exam. As of 2019, there were 312,716 licensed physical therapists in the United States. Of the practicing physical therapists in the United States, less than 15% have specialty certifications. The breakdown (as of July 2024) for each discipline is below:
Specialty Area Number of Specialists in the United States Number of Specialists in Wisconsin
Cardiopulmonary 549 63
Clinical Electrophysiology 251 0
Geriatrics 4,321 58
Neurology 4,965 74
Oncology 216 3
Orthopaedics 22,811 458
Pediatrics 2,909 34
Sports 3,534 72
Women’s Health 864 17
Wound Management 31 0
Total 40,451 779
What is the benefit of specialty certification?
Specialty certification can help accelerate the process of transitioning from a new graduate therapist to becoming an expert PT. Training required to become a specialty certified therapist includes improving clinical reasoning skills to better manage patients, improving efficiency during evaluations, and honing manual skills. Working for Freedom allows therapists to put these skills to practice working with patients in a one-on-one setting. To maintain their certification, these physical therapists have to continue to contribute to research in their field of physical therapy, create questions for future board certification exams, and complete thousands of clinical hours directly in their specialty area.
Who at Freedom is a clinical specialist?
Here at Freedom, we are lucky to have 3 physical therapists who have pursued specialty certification! Trenton Rehman and Rachel Beilfuss work out of our Brookfield office and are both board-certified in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy. Wes Kokott works out of our Mukwonago office and is double Board Certified in Orthopaedics and Sports Physical Therapy! Want to be treated by one of our expert certified specialists? Schedule your appointment today!
Curious about what it means to be fellowship trained, the highest level of clinical training a physical therapist can receive? Here at Freedom, we are lucky to have a fellowship-trained therapist, Trenton Rehman. Check out his blog post, “What is fellowship training?”
https://www.apta.org/contentassets/5997bfa5c8504df789fe4f1c01a717eb/apta-workforce-analysis-2020.pdf