The use of the title “Doctor” in front of your name is not authorized by your physical therapy license. Correct licensure designation in the provision of physical therapy is the title “physical therapist” and the initials “PT”. However, the Healing Arts Identification Act states that if a person has an academic or honorary degree, they may use the title granted by that degree as long as they clearly designate the degree as well.
If you use the title “doctor”, you must also use your licensure designation as well as your academic or honorary degree designation. Here are some examples of proper usage: If Jane Doe has a DPT, she can put “Dr. Jane Doe, PT, DPT” (licensure designation followed by academic designation) on her business card, signage, or advertisement. In person, for example when introducing herself to a patient, she would need to say something like, “Hi, I am Dr. Jane Doe, and I am your physical therapist.” Office staff should be taught how to correctly refer to the PT who has a doctorate degree, so that patients walking in for the first time, and people calling on the phone, are made aware from the initial contact that Jane Doe is a physical therapist who earned a doctorate of physical therapy.
Warning: There are other laws, including the PT Practice Act and the Medical Practice Act, clearly stating that implying you are a physician (when you are not) is a violation of the law regardless of the degree you hold. A PT who chooses to use the title “doctor” in front of his name is responsible for identifying himself as a physical therapist to make sure that no one – patient, office staff, or anyone else – believes that he is a physician.
Ultimately, if a complaint is received by the Board that a PT is representing himself as a physician, the burden of proof will be on the PT. The fact that the complainant believes they were misled could indicate that the PT did not make an adequate effort to identify himself as a physical therapist. 11/06