This interactive online course, primarily designed for physical therapists (PT) and PT students, provides the learner with the background needed to successfully utilize the knowledge and skills of a physical therapist assistant (PTA) in patient/client care. The course will clarify the team roles and relationships to assure the best patient/client outcomes.

NOTE: This is a prerequisite course for PTA’s pursuing the advanced proficiency pathway (APP).

Learning Objectives:

After completing this module, you will be able to: 

1.Model the correct clinical relationship between the PT and the PTA. 

2.Describe educational requirements and minimum skill sets of the PTA. 

3.Describe patient/client management activities PTAs may and may not perform. 

4.Supervise PTAs in the clinical environment. 

5.Provide mentoring and assist in career planning for PTAs.

Course Instructions

1. Click on the Contents tab to watch the course resources.
2. Click the Take Quiz button to complete the assessment. Learners will have 3 attempts to pass and must answer at least 70% of questions correctly.
3. Click Fill Out Survey under the Evaluation listing to provide valuable course feedback. Scroll down on all questions as there may be answer options that expand past the size of the window.
4. Click the View/Print Your Certificate button under the Certificate listing. You can view/print your certificate at any time by visiting the APTA Learning Center and clicking the CEU Certificate/Transcript link on the left-hand side of the page. 

Need Assistance?

For assistance logging in, accessing activities, claiming credit, or for other questions or concerns, please e-mail learningcenter@apta.org.