APTA is seeking six volunteers to serve on the APTA Task Force to Explore the Definition of Advanced Clinical Practice.
CHARGE
The task force will describe for APTA Board of Directors what advanced clinical practice in physical therapy means in the context of the United States. The Board of Directors’ determined charge for this task force is to:
- Perform an external scan of the definitions or descriptions of advanced clinical practice in physical therapy from intraprofessional and interprofessional perspectives.
- Consider the scope of physical therapist clinical practice in the context of professional scope, personal scope, and jurisdictional scope.
- Describe advanced clinical practice in physical therapy in the U.S. and differentiate that level of practice from others (e.g., novice practice compared with expert practice; entry-level practice compared with seasoned practice; basic practice compared with specialist practice) and discuss the benefits and barriers that may result.
- Submit a report with recommendation(s) to the Board of Directors no later than Oct. 1, 2024.
Note: All APTA-appointed groups will conduct their work in the context of 1) APTA’s mission, vision, values,
and strategic plan; and 2) the potential for their work to have implications related to physical therapist assistants, women, diversity, and risk management.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR APPOINTEES
Required qualifications:
- APTA membership for those eligible.
- Status as a licensed physical therapist.
- Experience in physical therapist practice or currently in professional and/or post-professional education of physical therapists.
Preferred qualifications:
- Individuals who served on one of the RC 10-21 reactor panel focus groups.
- Experience in objective and collaborative problem solving for the profession.
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills in listening to contributions of others prior to offering
personal perspectives, with the goal of achieving collaborative and group-oriented decisions and
outcomes.
MEETINGS
The task force will meet virtually up to one time per month, between January and October 2024 to meet the
charter’s outlined charge.
SIZE OF APPOINTED GROUP
Seven individuals: One Board member who serves as the task force chair and six other members including individuals representing a variety of member demographics and experience in the profession.
BACKGROUND
In 2021, through RC 20-21, the APTA House of Delegates charged APTA with developing a long-term strategy to integrate specialization into a clear and cohesive spectrum of advanced practice in physical therapy.
Feedback provided by the RC 10-21 focus group participants indicated that a standardized definition of
advanced clinical practice in the US is not clear, and the World Physiotherapy definition did not appear to
accurately or adequately describe the construct. Given the complexity and potential impact of the description
of advanced practice in physical therapy in the U.S., staff leadership and reactor panel participants felt this
work would best be accomplished independent from the RC 10-21 report. On Feb. 21, 2023, the Board of
Directors approved a recommendation to establish a task force to explore a definition of advanced clinical practice in physical therapy.
Have questions? Email practice@apta.org.