- 1. A candidate for license to practice as a physical therapist shall be at least twenty-one years of age. A candidate shall furnish evidence of such person's good moral character and the person's educational qualifications by submitting satisfactory evidence of completion of a program of physical therapy education approved as reputable by the board. A candidate who presents satisfactory evidence of the person's graduation from a school of physical therapy approved as reputable by the American Medical Association or, if graduated before 1936, by the American Physical Therapy Association, or if graduated after 1988, the Commission on Accreditation for Physical Therapy Education or its successor, is deemed to have complied with the educational qualifications of this subsection.
- 2. Persons desiring to practice as physical therapists in this state shall appear before the board at such time and place as the board may direct and be examined as to their fitness to engage in such practice. Applications for examination shall be in writing, on a form furnished by the board and shall include evidence satisfactory to the board that the applicant possesses the qualifications set forth in subsection 1 of this section. Each application shall contain a statement that it is made under oath or affirmation and that its representations are true and correct to the best knowledge and belief of the person signing the statement, subject to the penalties of making a false affidavit or declaration. The board shall not issue a permanent license to practice as a physical therapist or allow any person to sit for the Missouri state board examination for physical therapists who has failed three or more times any physical therapist licensing examination administered in one or more states or territories of the United States or the District of Columbia.
- 3. The examination of qualified candidates for licenses to practice physical therapy shall include a written examination and shall embrace the subjects taught in reputable programs of physical therapy education, sufficiently strict to test the qualifications of the candidates as practitioners. The examination shall be given by the board at least once each year and shall be administered to all candidates, and the examination given at any particular time shall be the same for all candidates and the same subjects shall be included and the same questions shall be asked. Candidates shall be required to achieve a passing score, as determined by the board, on an examination before being issued a license.
- 4. The examination shall embrace, in relation to the human being, the subjects of anatomy, chemistry, kinesiology, pathology, physics, physiology, psychology, physical therapy theory and procedures as related to medicine, surgery and psychiatry, and such other subjects, including medical ethics, as the board deems useful to test the fitness of the candidate to practice physical therapy.
- 5. Examination grades or scores shall be preserved by the board subject to public inspection. Examination papers retained by the board shall be subject to public inspection for a period of three years, after which they may be destroyed.
(L. 1969 H.B. 39 § 4, A.L. 1981 S.B. 16, A.L. 1995 S.B. 452)