What is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, or DPT?
It is a degree similar to your dentist (DDS), veterinarian (DVM), or optometrist (DO). The profession of physical therapy is moving to a model of direct access. This means we can see a patient without a referral from a physician. The profession chose to increase the level of training to help PT’s be better diagnosticians so that we can identify pathology outside of our scope of practice, so that we can refer patients for appropriate care when necessary.
