Check off each item. 15 items covering licensure, clinical skills, finances, and personal readiness.
Required before any clinical work.
A PT Compact privilege can only be bought on top of a current home-state license, so apply for that license as soon as you pass boards.
MMR, Varicella, Hep B titers, Tdap, TB test, flu shot.
From patient interview through assessment and plan.
Not taking 2+ hours home every night.
Clinical humility is essential for safe practice.
2-3 supervisors or clinical instructors.
Essential for non-taxable stipends. Read the guide.
Housing deposits, licensing, moving, emergency fund.
Taxable rate vs. stipends. Use the calculator.
Agency housing vs. stipend. Housing guide.
Parent's plan (under 26), agency plan, or Marketplace.
New city, housing and coworkers with each contract; 13 weeks is the usual length, an industry convention rather than a rule.
Each item above is a judgment call except where a rule sits behind it. Here are the rules, in the words of the bodies that set them.
The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy describes the National Physical Therapy Examination as an exam that “for PTs and PTAs is an essential part of the licensing process.” It adds: “Each licensing authority has its own eligibility criteria for licensure and for taking the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE).” So the board in the state you want your first license from decides when you can sit the exam and what it needs from you. (FSBPT)
A compact privilege is not a first license. In the PT Compact Commission's words, to buy one:
And: “You cannot practice in your home state through a compact privilege.” Work in your home state is always on your home-state license.
Which states are issuing privileges, and the steps: licensing by discipline.
Facilities commonly ask for license verification for the assignment state, immunization and TB screening records, a background check, a drug screen, professional references, CPR/BLS certification and skills checklists. Each facility sets its own list and no single official source publishes one, so treat this as a starting point and ask for the facility's list early. No official source gives a credentialing time either, so none is given here.
Non-taxable stipends depend on traveling away from your tax home. IRS Publication 463 (2025): “Generally, your tax home is your regular place of business or post of duty, regardless of where you maintain your family home. It includes the entire city or general area in which your business or work is located.”
And on how long an assignment can last: “Generally, a temporary assignment in a single location is one that is realistically expected to last (and does in fact last) for 1 year or less.” (IRS Publication 463 (2025))
13 weeks is the usual contract length, an industry convention rather than a rule: no official body sets it, and each contract states its own. For housing there are two arrangements: you can take a housing stipend and arrange your own housing, or take housing the agency arranges.
Facts checked October 4, 2026 (FSBPT, IRS, PT Compact Commission).
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