New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 16 - OCCUPATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSING
Chapter 20 - PHYSICAL THERAPISTS
Part 9 - EDUCATION CRITERIA FOR FOREIGN-EDUCATED APPLICANTS
Section 16.20.9.8 - EQUIVALENT

The foreign-educated applicant must have graduated from a physical therapist educational program that prepares the applicant to practice without restriction in the United States. This includes coursework in those elements of practice that are necessary for autonomous practice such as determining a patient's diagnosis for physical therapy and managing a patient's care within healthcare systems found in the United States. The coursework content should be substantially equivalent to coursework completed by graduates of accredited programs in the United States. Substantially equivalent means the applicant has satisfied or exceeded the minimum number of credits required in general and professional education needed for a U.S. first professional degree in physical therapy. Substantial equivalency in coursework content, as well as, required semester credits is determined by a board-sanctioned credentials review using the appropriate coursework evaluation tool (CWT) adopted by the federation of state boards of physical therapy (FSBPT). The appropriate CWT means the latest edition CWT that applies to the time the foreign educated physical therapist graduated from his or her physical therapy program.