CE7. Internship and Licensure
The clinical internship is the culminating clinical experience in the program. The one-year internship model is the primary model for completion of the DPT Program. Every student should be prepared to undergo a match process that will result in matching with a one-year internship. Students are not guaranteed a one-year internship. Shorter, unpaid internships may be implemented by the DCE based on availability of internship positions and other process related circumstances.
A major function of the internship is to facilitate the transition from student to independent practitioner in an environment that reinforces clinical skills, critical thinking, and professional behavior.
Students are expected to complete the commitment they make to the clinical site to which they are matched.
The year-long paid internship consists of three phases that depict the student’s status at a given time.
PHASE I: STUDENT INTERN
Interns must be enrolled in PT 843n throughout this phase of internship.
During this final clinical experience completed as part of the degree requirements, the intern is an unlicensed physical therapy student. All patient care provided by the student is done so under the physical therapist license of the facility-designated supervisor(s). Supervision must meet the same legal and ethical requirements held for any PT student in the state or jurisdiction within which the internship is taking place.
PHASE II: GRADUATE INTERN
Phase II begins upon completion of degree requirements and eligibility for the awarding of the DPT degree. Interns are enrolled in PT 781 Internship Continuation throughout this phase of internship. PT 781 is a zero credit post-professional course which serves as the mechanism for maintaining all interns as enrolled students of the Institute following granting of the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree.
During Phase II, interns either continue to practice as student physical therapists under the license of the supervising clinical faculty, or, where permitted by law, apply for and function under a temporary PT license with the appropriate level of supervision for that status. Specific status during Phase II needs to be explored by the internship facility prior to the start of internship.
During this phase, students are expected to apply for and obtain a permanent license to practice physical therapy recognized by the jurisdiction in which the internship is taking place. This process includes making application, taking and passing the physical therapist examination (NPTE), and receiving the physical therapy license. Interns must begin this process immediately upon completion of degree requirements (i.e. upon completion of PT 843n) and must meet all deadlines established by the internship facility and the governing body in the jurisdiction within which the internship is taking place. Failure to do so may result in interruption or termination of the internship experience.
Obtaining a physical therapist license marks the beginning of Phase III of internship.
PHASE III: LICENSED INTERN
Phase III begins upon receipt of a license to practice physical therapy in the jurisdiction within which the internship is taking place. Interns continue to be enrolled in PT 781 throughout this phase of internship.
During Phase III of the paid clinical internship, the intern is a licensed physical therapist.
As such, he/she assumes the full professional and legal responsibilities of a licensed physical therapist and enjoys the rights and privileges thereof.
Licensed interns are responsible for complying with all legal, ethical, and procedural requirements of the relevant governing bodies, American Physical Therapy Association, internship facility, and Institute.
Failure of National Physical Therapist Examination
Failure to pass the licensing examination has ramifications for the internship process and may result in disruption or termination of the internship. Following failure of the licensing examination, an appropriate course of action must be determined on an individual basis by the internship facility and intern, in consultation with the DCE. Based on the licensing laws of the jurisdiction within which the internship is taking place and the resources and needs of the internship facility, an internship may be:
- Suspended until the intern retakes the exam and becomes licensed.
- Continued without disruption, as in the case of an intern functioning with a temporary license that can be renewed until the exam is taken a second time.
- Continued with the intern assuming a different role, such as that of a PT aide, until a successful attempt at the NPTE and the intern becomes licensed.
Terminated ahead of schedule if the internship facility determines that this is necessary. Otherwise, the intern is expected to become licensed and resume the intern role as soon as possible, seeing the internship through to its predetermined completion date.