What Type of Physical Therapist Should I Be

How it works

In a physical therapy program, or weighing one? Press the button for one of the board specialties, from orthopaedics to pediatrics and sports, each with its patients and how many therapists hold the certificate.

Read the full guide

Ten certificates today, an eleventh on the way

The American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties certifies specialists in ten areas. The oldest exam is cardiovascular and pulmonary, first held in 1985, and the newest is wound management, in 2022. Primary care was approved in 2025, with its first exam expected in 2028 or 2029.

You specialize after you qualify

To sit a specialist exam you need a current license and either 2,000 hours of direct patient care in the specialty in the last ten years, 500 of them in the last three, or an accredited clinical residency in it. A residency typically lasts about a year.

Board certification in sports does not by itself let you work at athletic venues. Your state’s practice act decides that.

Questions and answers

What type of physical therapist should I be?

Start with the patients: children, older adults, athletes, people recovering from a stroke or living with cancer. Students gain supervised experience in areas such as acute care and orthopedic care, so use your clinical work to compare before you choose.

What are the specialties of physical therapy?

The board certifies ten: cardiovascular and pulmonary, clinical electrophysiology, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, orthopaedics, pediatrics, pelvic and women’s health, sports and wound management.

What is the most common physical therapy specialty?

Orthopaedics, by a wide margin: 25,306 of the 45,398 therapists the board had certified by July 2026. Neurology, geriatrics, sports and pediatrics come next, in that order.

Do physical therapists have to specialize?

No. The specialist program is voluntary, and a certified specialist is not required to keep to that area. What every state requires is a license, and entering the occupation takes a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree.

All 11 specialties

C 2

Cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapist Practices heart and lung physical therapy, the first specialty to hold an exam. 632 certified.
Clinical electrophysiologic physical therapist Uses electricity to measure and produce the body’s responses, in testing and treatment. 281 certified.

G 1

Geriatric physical therapist Works with older adults on safe mobility and staying independent. 4,665 certified.

N 1

Neurologic physical therapist Treats people of all ages with neurologic disorders, such as after a stroke. 5,768 certified.

O 2

Oncologic physical therapist Works on rehabilitation for people living with and beyond cancer. 281 certified.
Orthopaedic physical therapist Treats conditions of the muscles, bones and joints. The largest specialty: 25,306 certified.

P 3

Pediatric physical therapist Treats children with traumatic, developmental and systemic disorders. 3,219 certified.
Pelvic and women’s health physical therapist Practices pelvic and women’s health physical therapy, called Women’s Health until 2025. 1,055 certified.
Primary care physical therapist Approved in 2025: triage and care across all body systems. First exam expected in 2028 or 2029.

S 1

Sports physical therapist Works with athletes on preventing, treating and recovering from injury. 4,153 certified.

W 1

Wound management physical therapist Prevents and manages wounds and other conditions of the skin, at any age. 38 certified.