Approval for Physical Therapists in Tennessee

The Board of Physical Therapy is responsible for safeguarding the health, safety, and welfare of Tennesseans, by requiring that all who practice physical therapy within the state be qualified to practice. The Board interprets the laws, rules, and regulations to determine the appropriate standards of practice in an effort to ensure the highest degree of professional conduct.

All licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants are required to obtain 30 hours of credits for the 24 months that precede their licensure renewal month. 

• Class 1 Activities – At least 20 of the required 30 hours must be from Class I activities, and only 10 of these hours may be acquired online. (Courses on our site qualify as Class 1).

• Class 2 Activities – Up to 10 of the required 30 hours may be from Class II activities.

• Ethics & Jurisprudence – 4 of the required 30 hours must consist of ethics and jurisprudence education courses. The Tennessee Physical Therapy Association (TPTA) is the sole approval entity for ethics and jurisprudence courses. All ethics and jurisprudence courses approved by the TPTA shall be deemed approved by the Board. Any ethics and jurisprudence course not approved by the TPTA will fail to meet the requirements of this rule. The TPTA shall only approve courses that are a minimum of 2 hours each in duration. They shall be Class I continuing education.

• Audits – Licensees must retain these hours up to 5 years after completion and submit proof of these hours to the Board upon request.