Guide to Physical Therapist Practice (Revised 2003)

IMPORTANT NOTE: The next edition of APTA's Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, 2nd Edition, will be less an "edition" and more a "version" -- 3.0 to be precise. Guide to Physical Therapist Practice 3.0 is scheduled for release in August 2014. It will be electronic only, as the online links to outside and continually updated resources made it impossible for the Guide to be useful as a static printed book.

Especially for educators and students: No printed book means that all you need for your class work is the URL. As long as you access Guide 3.0 via the guidetoptpractice.apta.org website you'll have the most current version, semester after semester.

APTA will remove the printed Guide to Physical Therapist Practice from its catalog on June 1, and will no longer sell new copies.

The result of input and collaboration among hundreds of physical therapists, the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, Revised Second Edition, clearly defines scope of practice; guides patterns of practice; improves quality of care; promotes appropriate use of health care services; and explains physical therapist practice to insurers, policymakers, and other health care professionals. The Guide continues to be an essential resource for both daily practice and professional education.

The Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, Revised Second Edition, features:

• A detailed description of the scope of physical therapist practice.
• Tests and measures and interventions sections with expanded clinical indications, examples of tests and measures and data generated.
• Examples in all sections to assist the user in examination and intervention.
• Preferred practice patterns grouped into four major areas: musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, cardiovascular and pulmonary, and integumentary.
• Tests and measures and interventions relevant to each pattern clarified.