So You’re Board Certified. Now What?

By Dave Cavagnino, PT, DPT

Geriatric Clinical Resident, Physical Therapist

Congratulations, you passed your board exam! Maybe you completed a residency, or maybe you collected your hours of experience and went the self-study route, but either way, you are now board certified. Before you do anything else, make sure you add those new initials to your signature and write “Board Certified” on your business cards. Take a moment to take pride in your accomplishment!

But have you thought about what you are going to do next?

Board certification is an accomplishment encouraged by the APTA, DPT programs, and many employers (including FOX). In 2019, only 9% of physical therapists were board certificated in a specialty area. With so much emphasis placed on PTs to obtain a clinical specialization, it is easy to see it as the pinnacle of professional development. And while it is true that those three letters after your name indicate “advanced clinical knowledge, expertise, and skills in a special area of practice,” board certification is not an end in itself, but rather a stepping stone to new opportunities in practice.

10 Possible Directions to Take After Board Certification

Here are 10 directions you can take after getting board-certified:

1. Refocus on your clinical work. You spent long hours hitting the books, taking online courses, and agonizing over practice tests. If you were in a residency, you had even more competition for your time: teaching, advocating, and maybe even publishing. You have been exposed to an enormous amount of new information, and it will take time to integrate all of this new knowledge. More than the time it took to study and/or work as a resident. Before doing anything else, make sure your patients are benefiting maximally from your work.
2. Take a deeper dive into your specialty. Now that you are an expert in a specific area of practice, become an expert in a specific area of that area. For example, if you are a newly minted Neurological Clinical Specialist (NCS) or Geriatric Clinical Specialist (GCS), you will have some experience treating patients with Parkinson’s disease or vestibular disorders. If you haven’t already, this may be a good time to get LSVT BIG or vestibular certifications. As you master your corner of the profession, your peers will recognize your expertise, and you may even find that you are being asked by your colleagues to consult on their challenging cases.
3. Get involved with students. Take your advanced clinical skills and share them! Many PT programs consider their Clinical Instructors (CIs) “clinical faculty” and are looking for knowledgeable and enthusiastic instructors. If you really like working with students, you can become an APTA-certified CI to develop your teaching skills. This may even be an opportunity to begin to develop a relationship with a university, which could lead to additional opportunities working as a lab instructor or giving lectures.
4. Mentor Fresh PTs. I know this isn’t news to you, but developing expertise is a demanding process. Did you have a great mentor who helped you become passionate and skilled? If not, did you wish you had someone like this when you were starting out? Whether you become a mentor formally (like with FOX Rehab’s Emerging Professionals Mentorship Program) or informally, you have an opportunity to make a positive impact on a new PT looking for guidance. You will probably learn a lot from your mentee, too!
5. Elevate your whole team. Having a team with a depth and breadth of experience can make all the difference in delivering the best care to your patients. As important as it is to have experienced clinicians to guide fresh PTs, it’s just as important to have experts in different areas to elevate all team members. Since you are now up to date with best practices, this could be a good time to present on a topic at a team meeting or start a journal club to generate conversation. Some practices, like FOX, have formal quality assurance positions on teams for reviewing charts and offering feedback to team members.
6. Pursue a complementary board certification. It’s not unheard of to take a second specialty. A specialist in geriatrics or pediatrics, which may be considered demographic specialties, can pursue a neurologic or orthopedic specialization to really get into the details of addressing the diagnoses they see often. Or vice versa, an orthopedic specialist can work toward getting board-certified in sports to focus on the population they prefer to work with. While this may seem daunting right after taking one board exam, 45% of board-certified PTs are under 40 and have decades ahead to continue to specialize.
7. Pursue a fellowship. Fellowships are not advertised as well as residencies, but they are accredited by the same body: the ABPTRFE. A  fellowship is designed to develop “knowledge, skills, and responsibilities of an advanced physical therapist within a defined area of subspecialty practice.” In fact, to even apply to a fellowship, a candidate either has to complete a residency program or be a board-certified specialist. Fellowships are offered in: critical care, hand therapy, movement system, neonatology, orthopedic manual physical therapy, performing arts, spine, sports division 1, and upper extremity athlete. There are also non-clinical programs in higher education leadership.
8. Become a leader in your practice. Some residencies have leadership training built into the program, but regardless of the route you took to your board certification, you have shown dedication to your profession and desire to be a lifelong learner. These qualities will serve you well as a leader in your practice, which may involve hiring and mentoring new clinicians, making sure clients are satisfied with their care, and communicating with referral sources. One survey of employers demonstrated that a clinical specialization can increase your credibility in clinical, academic, and community settings.
9. Get involved with research. The best research projects were inspired by a clinical need and aimed to improve clinical practice. Due to this close relationship between research and clinical PT, having advanced clinical knowledge is an asset if you want to pursue a Ph.D. or lend your expertise to a research study. You may find that if you reach out to your local DPT programs, your alma mater, or a university where you act as a CI, there may be an opportunity to get involved in research — and board certification should help you get a foot in the door.
10. Give back with your local and national professional association. There are a variety of ways that you can provide service to your profession, but they generally all revolve around your local or national APTA chapter. Whether you want to advocate for a vulnerable population, influence policy writing, or run for a leadership position, your advanced knowledge on the state of clinical practice, as demonstrated by your certification, will enhance your credibility. You could also play a part in writing and developing specialty exam tests.

The physical therapy profession provides a variety and depth in the opportunities for motivated and passionate clinicians. By making the choice to become board certified, you have demonstrated your commitment to performing high-quality work and continuing to learn throughout your whole career.

The next generation of leaders, teachers, mentors, and advocates will be decided one clinician at a time, and board certification is just one step toward deciding what impact you will have on the profession.