Why can the profession just use “DPT” as a clinical designator, like “PT”?
At some point in the future, it may be possible to successfully argue that “DPT” should be an additional clinical designator for the licensed physical therapist. One requirement for such a decision would be the existence of a “critical mass” of DPT graduates in physical therapist practice. Of course, such a decision would involve changes in state practice acts; authority would rest with state boards of licensure and state legislatures. It is not inconceivable that an acceptable clinical designator would be DPT.
