12/24/2025
Confused about what course to take to improve your practice? What letters after your name will attract more patients or improve outcomes?
The criticism of continuing education & post-graduate certifications is that it is often overpriced, low quality, and attempts to give providers the impression that they have mastered a topic in a weekend
We couldn’t agree more!
The important thing to understand is that the problem starts at the top, with the acceptance that our “professional organizations” are not regulatory bodies nor are they lobbying ones: by law, they cannot use any money collected from dues, NPTE fees, college accreditation fees, etc. for political purposes. The PT-PAC is a separate entity but you must be a member to be eligible to donate additional funds (beyond your dues) to help with lobbying initiatives
So, what are these groups actually doing? As tough as it is to hear: primarily goofing off on the stock market & investing in each other’s real estate deals with your dues & fees
History lessons & hard truths learned, is anyone actually doing anything worthwhile in this area?
Yes! Seek out organizations that make it difficult, perhaps more difficult than your entry-level schooling & testing, to obtain credit and certifications. Letters & titles should mean something and should be more difficult to acquire then playing a video muted on your phone while you watch football on the couch
In addition, the work of maintaining your current scope of practice & broadening it in the future is actually done by individual state PT boards and your state’s government. Your state PT board also has a PAC you can donate to without being an APTA member
Our two cents? Seek out the coursework where you might actually fail if you don’t have your ass & head wired together, and help your state PAC fight the good fight
Questions? Leave them below and we’ll answer them
Lost on how to start your own rehab practice or unsure you’re doing it right currently? Check out Brick by Brick, our 8-week, synchronous, guided practice management course through
Next class starts January 6th, 2026 - check the link in our bio for more info & registration
