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The FSBPThas barred graduates from schools in the Philippines, Egypt, India and Pakistan from taking the NPTEuntil the development of a separate, secure exam for those graduates (to be called the NPTE-YRLY), which is expected to be launched in the fall of 2011. This was in response to alleged security breaches by graduates of physical therapy schools from the aforementioned countries. The organization said it imposed the ban on
Filipino PTgraduates after discovering that St. Louis Review Center in Manila was sharing "hundreds of live test items" to students who were taking up their review classes. The FSBPT is pursuing a lawsuit against the center and its alleged owners/operators, Gerard L. Martin, Roger P. Tong-an and Carlito Balita.Glenn Ian, a Filipino physical therapist who has been working in the US since 2007, believes that the ban is not fair.
"I do not think it is fair to do a suspension. Some PT graduates, not just from the Philippines but from other places as well like India, who were preparing to take the exams were taken aback by this immediate suspension. It was too abrupt," he said. "I wonder how this actual ban will affect the demand of therapists in the future. Will this mean that for a year, we will be having shortages of therapists working in SNF’s, and nursing homes?"
Jerome Amanquiton, another physical therapist from the Philippines, echoes that sentiment. "It’s really unfair that PT graduates from all the schools in the Philippines are going to be affected by this. I’m really surprised that this happened," he said.
According to the Department of Labor in the Philippines, over 1,300 physical therapists were deployed to the United State from 2007 to 2009.
Glenn also laments the fact that the field of physical therapy is not thoroughly and completely understood.
"The field of Physical therapy is vast and I am actually surprised that not a lot of people in the Medical field, really understand our role in the health care industry, the US included," he said. He added that there is a growing number of Filipino therapists in fields such as pelvic floor rehabilitation, Pilates rehab, Manual therapy, Therapeutic Exercises, Pediatrics and Early Intervention, home health care, SNF’s among others.
For Amanquiton, the worry is on the shrinking number of qualified physical therapists in the United States.
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