What does Reciprocity or an Easy Petition Mean?

Figuring out the state practice acts and what’s approved for continuing education credit can be confusing! It’s not any less confusing for us as providers. 😅 I’ve written out all the states and looked up the practice acts to make sure they specify the words “approved by other state APTA chapters”. Since the course is approved through several state APTA chapters, this gets us reciprocity with other states. Please see below for a video on how to look at your state practice act. Then, some states have no real rules of approval at all. I’ve listed those as well.

Now, keep in mind that this list below is simply approval. If you scroll down, you'll see the hours for the pre-approved states. You’ll need to check with your state to see how many hours you need for each approval period and how many of those you’re allowed to get from online coursework. A few states require different amounts of in-person CEU hours.

-States that do not require any evaluation process for continuing education credit according to the Federation of State Boards for Physical Therapy. Basically, anything goes! Here’s a link to the page.

  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Maine
  • New Hampshire
  • Oregon
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Utah
  • Virgin Islands
  • Washington

-States where the board has established standards but no evaluation/verification is required of standards being met.

  • Alabama
  • Montana

-States that are approved through reciprocity. Meaning, they accept courses pre-approved by other state level APTA chapters. (Please scroll down to see a video walking you through the topic and how to look it up on your state practice act.)

  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Delaware
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Indiana
  • Kentucky
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • Tennessee
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Wyoming

PCES 2.0 - 34 Hours of Course Work

-States we have petitioned, paid and gained approval through:

  • AR- 34 Hours
  • CA- 3.4 CEUs
  • FL- 40 Hours *Accreditation of this course does not necessarily imply the FPTA supports the views of the presenter or the sponsors. 12 CE hours of online coursework are allowed per biennium.
  • IL- 34 ss CE hours *Subject to self study limitations for IL license renewal. This course content is not intended for use by any participants outside the scope of their license or regulation.
  • LA- 34 Clinical Hours
  • MD- 34 Hours
  • MN- 34 CE Hours
  • NJ- 34 CECs *NJ allows 10 Hours from distance learning, 20 Hours from live webinars
  • NM- 34 Hours
  • NV- 34 Clinical Hours *This course has been approved by the Nevada Physical Therapy Board for 34 Hours of continuing education.
  • NY- 40.8 CEUs * approval is through the NYPTA which is an approved provider for CE in NY State
  • OH- 34.75 Hours
  • OK- 34 Hours Category B
  • TN- 3.475 CEUs/ 34.75 contact hours of Class 1 Continuing Education
  • TX- 34 CCUs
  • WI- 34 CEUs
  • WV- 34 Hours *Approval of this course does not necessarily imply that the WV Board of Physical Therapy supports the views of the presenter or sponsor.

Pelvis Pro - 25 Hours of Course Work

-States we have petitioned, paid and gained approval through:

  • AR- 2.5 CEUs * Pre-Approved through the ArPTA
  • CA- 2.5 CEUs
  • FL- 29 Hours *Accreditation of this course does not necessarily imply the FPTA supports the views of the presenter or the sponsors. 12 CE hours of online coursework are allowed per biennium.
  • IL- 25 hours *Subject to self study limitations for IL license renewal. This course content is not intended for use by any participants outside the scope of their license or regulation.
  • LA- 25 Hours
  • NJ- 25 Hours *NJ allows 10 Hours from distance learning, 20 Hours from live webinars
  • NY- 30 Hours* approval is through the NYPTA which is an approved provider for CE in NY State
  • OH - 25 Hours
  • TX - 25 CCUs approval through TPTA
  • WI- 25 CEUs
  • WV- 25 Hours *Approval of this course does not necessarily imply that the WV Board of Physical Therapy supports the views of the presenter or sponsor

Easy Petition

Many certifying bodies allow for course credit by petition. Here is a list of many organizations that will accept our courses by petition.

ACE, CSEP, ACSM, IFPA, NCFS, NFPT, NETA, AFPTE, CCO (Ontario Chiropractors), DONA International, and many more.

Example:

This is a screenshot from the ACSM recertification form. Since our courses are pre-approved by NASM, you can list the PCES 2.0 or the Pelvis Pro course in the Non-ACSM Programs category.

easy petition image

Many of the Training, Yoga and Pilates certifications allow for course credit by petition. Please check with your certifying organization directly to see if this is an option. If it is not allowed and you don’t see your certifying body on our list, please let us know and we’ll see if we can get the course approved for you.

Reciprocity

About half the states in the US offer reciprocity for Physical Therapists seeking CEU credit. This means that they will accept courses that are pre-approved by another state’s APTA chapter.

Let’s take a look at North Carolina together. Here is a screenshot from their State Practice Act, and you can see how “State Chapters of APTA” are listed as approved providers. Our courses are pre-approved through many state APTAs, so this means our courses are approved in North Carolina by reciprocity.

NC reciprocity scrren shot copy

Many other states simply require the PT to show that the course will benefit their learning, and it doesn’t have to be pre-approved by any APTA chapters.

Here’s an example from Washington state. No further pre-approval is required by other boards, you simply need to keep track of your Certificate of Completion.

WA state reciprocity example

Some states do require pre-approval. Please see the beginning of the page to see which states are pre-approved for the various courses we offer.

The last thing to keep in mind is that some states do not allow all required credit hours to be gained from online learning, and they may require live course attendance for at least some of the hours. So please be sure to check with your state to see what’s allowed before making your course purchase.

Here’s a quick video on how to find and understand your State Practice Act. You can also click here to find your state practice act as the FSBPT has created a convenient page with a link for every states practice act.