The thing that makes physical therapy cool is that we combine interpersonal skills, a focus on empowering the patient, active treatments, and extensive musculoskeletal expertise to provide a high quality health care experience.

The Doctor of Physical Therapy degree is the industry standard of clinical education for physical therapists. Since the profession has only adopted that standard within the last several years, it is possible that your physical therapist will not have "DPT" after their name. That's alright, and in no way is directly related to the skill of your provider, although each therapist has the chance to continue their education to obtain the DPT if they so choose.

In some cases, your physical therapist will have many strange initials after their name, sometimes having nothing to do with physical therapy at all. This is ok too, so long as you do not associate all those initials with clinical skill. The lengthy list of initials that some physical therapists use is a point of often contentious debate within the profession. One side feels that DPT is enough and similar to the physician's MD. The other side asks, if you have credentials, why not list them? The bottom line is that only in very limited instances do those following credentials actually say anything about your therapist's skill in treating you low back pain.

One of those exceptions would be the FAAOMPT credential. This indicates the holder is a Fellow of the American Association of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists. This is a rigorous credential to obtain, and directly related to a clinical knowledge base.