Kentucky Physical Therapy Practice Act: Definitions, Scope of Practice, and Licensure Requirements
Domain 1 tests the statutory backbone of Kentucky practice: what "physical therapy" is, who may perform it and use the protected titles, and how a person becomes licensed. Items come from KRS Chapter 327 and the Board's regulations in 201 KAR Chapter 36.
Scope of practice
- The practice of physical therapy means examining and evaluating a patient and treating impairments, functional limitations, and disability using physical measures (heat, cold, water, light, sound, electricity, massage), therapeutic exercise, and assistive devices.
- The physical therapist establishes and remains responsible for the plan of care. Nothing in the Act authorizes a PT to practice medicine, osteopathy, or chiropractic, or to prescribe legend drugs.
- Titles are protected: only a licensee may call themselves a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant. Practicing or holding out without a license violates the Act and can carry both Board and criminal consequences.
Licensing requirements
- Graduation from an accredited physical therapy or physical therapist assistant program, passing the national licensure examination, and filing a complete Board application with fees.
- Licensure by endorsement for an applicant already licensed in another jurisdiction with comparable standards.
- A license is time-limited. Working on a lapsed license is unlicensed practice, not a paperwork error.
Worked example
A patient asks the PT to order an x-ray because a physician visit would cost more. The PT declines. Reasoning: ordering diagnostic imaging sits outside the practice of physical therapy as defined; the correct response is to explain the limit and help the patient obtain physician evaluation of findings that need imaging.
Traps
- Treating "evaluation" as permission to render a medical diagnosis.
- Assuming PTA licensure means independent practice.
- Forgetting that the statutory definition of practice is the outer boundary of every other question on this exam.