Hello and welcome to a new school year, boys and girls. It’s that time of year again when pools close their gates, pencils are sharpened, and new classes of future Doctors of Physical Therapy begin their studies.
The APTA’s most recent vision statement stands in stark contrast to the previous Vision 2020, which proclaimed with great fanfare that its practitioners would soon all be Doctors of Physical Therapy. This title has become the norm in our profession, with 96% of accredited physical therapy programs now offering the DPT and the remaining planning to convert.
Norms aside, the usage of this title remains highly controversial for current practitioners and even #DPTstudents. This week, we’ll debate the usage of the title “Doctor” by Doctors of Physical Therapy. We highly encourage both students and practitioners to join in the discussion on Twitter this Wednesday, August 27th from 8-9pm CST. Participants may find the links below helpful in preparation for the #DPTstudent chat.
Recommended reading:
NYT, “When the Nurse Wants to Be Called Doctor”
APTA Responds to The New York Times on Physical Therapists Using the Term ‘Doctor’
See you there!
@LauraLWebb
#DPTstudent chat moderator
Very interesting information that you have here. As a nurse graduate myself I liked the post that said when the nurse wants to be called a doctor.