FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ABILITY OF FOREIGN-TRAINED PHYSICAL THERAPISTS TO PRACTICE IN THE UNITED STATES

B. Singh¹, V. Kapadia², A. Sharma³, D. Friedberg⁴, S. Dusane⁵

¹Manchester University, Physical Therapy, Fort Wayne, United States, ²Duke University, Physical Therapy, Raleigh, United States, ³Central Connecticut State University, Exercise Science, Great Britian, United States, ⁴Sage College, Physical Therapy, New York, United States, ⁵Northwestern University, Physical Therapy, Chicago, United States

Background: Foreign-educated physical therapists account for less than 5% of all licensed therapists in the United States as opposed to physicians comprising of a much higher number of foreign-educated medical graduates. Additionally, reports indicate that compared to the US medical graduates, foreign-trained professionals are more likely to serve patients who identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino, and Asian or Pacific Islander.

Purpose: This ongoing study looked at characteristics and factors influencing the ability of foreign-trained physical therapists to work in the United States.

Methods: A survey was sent to 2500 foreign-trained licensed physical therapists who were licensed in the last five years. The survey included four different sections. The first section collected demographic data including the country of entry-level education completed. The second section inquired about current practice settings and type of patient populations seen in clinic practice. The third section constituted questions on attempts at the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) and confidence in skill set at the current job. The fourth section required subjects to list their major reasons for selecting the job.

Results: 1823 foreign-trained physical therapists with a valid active license filled out the survey from 2019-2021. Out of 1823, 54 therapists did not complete the survey and were not included. Data from 1769 therapists was included in the final study. Therapists identified them as females (58.9%), with a mean age of 29.3+/-3.8 and within a range of 23-48 years of age. Most physical therapists were from India (38.6%) followed by Philippines (29.3%), Egypt (12%) and Nigeria (9.4%). The entry level education in most countries was reported to be Bachelor of Physical Therapy and 27.3% of the therapists responded with an education level of masters or higher degree. Interestingly, most participants with master’s degrees obtained their degree from a U.S. University. More than half of the physical therapists (53%) failed their first NPTE attempt. Most therapists reported working in skilled nursing facilities (58%), followed by outpatient clinics (28.9%) and in-patient settings (4.3%). Majority of the therapists (57.8%) identified the efficiency of the credentialing process, 18.1% picked availability of visa sponsorships and 13% picked their skill set as the primary reason for picking their job setting.

Conclusions: Our survey indicated that majority of the foreign-trained physical therapists have a bachelor's degree in physical therapy and have passed their NPTE on a repeat attempt. Additionally, they also selected their job in a specific setting based on available credentialing tool and visa issues, and not based on their skill set.

Implications: Skill set as the reason for accepting a job in a specific setting was not taken into consideration by majority of foreign-trained physical therapists. The state boards and future employers can use this information to implement direct steps to transform this situation in order to increase the diversity and outreach of our profession.

Funding acknowledgements: Facts for PTs- Non-Profit 501 c3 organization

Keywords:
Foreign-trained
physical therapist
National Physical Therapy Exam

Topics:
Professional issues: diversity and inclusion
Education
Professionalism & ethics

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: California State University

Committee: Fresno State IRB

Ethics number: 82620