The National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE) is an important step toward receiving your Physecal Therapist (PT) or Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) license.

The NPTE consists of 200 questions on the PTA exam (4 hours of exam time) and 250 questions on the PT exam (5.5 hours of exam time). Both exams have one scheduled 15-minute break after section two is completed when the timer will be paused. The PT exam has 3 additional unscheduled breaks and PTA exam has 2 additional unscheduled breaks where the time will continue to run.

The PT exam covers the following areas:
  • Physical Therapy Examination – 50 – 56 questions
  • Foundations for Evaluation, Differential Diagnosis & Prognosis – 60-70 questions
  • Interventions – 56-64 questions
  • Equipment & Devices/Therapeutic Modalities – 11-14 questions
  • Safety & Protection/Professional Responsibilities/Research – 11-14
  • Cardiovascular/Pulmonary & Lymphatic Systems – 32-35 questions
  • Musculoskeletal Systems – 59-63 questions
  • Neuromuscular & Nervous Systems – 48-52 questions
  • Other Systems (Integumentary, Metabolic & Endocrine Systems, Gastrointestinal System, Genitourinary System, System Interactions) – 28-40 questions

The PTA exam covers the following areas:
  • Physical Therapy Data Collection – 28-33 questions
  • Diseases/Conditions the Impact Effective Treatment – 39-48 questions
  • Interventions – 43-51 questions
  • Equipment & Devices/Therapeutic Modalities – 20-24 questions
  • Safety & Protection/Professional Responsibilities/Research – 7-10
  • Cardiovascular/Pulmonary & Lymphatic Systems – 23-26
  • Musculoskeletal System – 37-41 questions
  • Neuromuscular & Nervous Systems – 31-35 questions
  • Other Systems (Integumentary, Metabolic & Endocrine Systems, Gastrointestinal System, Genitourinary System, System Interactions) – 19-30 questions
Make sure you are prepared for your National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE). McRee Learning Center can help.
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