Definitions

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Professions and Businesses
  4. Physical Therapists
  5. General Provisions
  6. Definitions

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As used in this article, the term:

  1. "Board" means the State Board of Physical Therapy.
  2. "License" means a valid and current certificate of registration issued by the board which shall give the person to whom it is issued authority to engage in the practice prescribed thereon.
  3. "Licensee" means any person holding a license under this article or holding a valid Physical Therapy Licensure Compact privilege pursuant to Article 2 of this chapter.
  4. "Person" means a human being only, not a legal entity.
  5. "Physical therapist" means a person licensed to practice physical therapy as defined in this article and whose license is in good standing.
  6. "Physical therapist assistant" or "physical therapy assistant" means a person who is licensed by the board to assist a physical therapist, whose activities are supervised and directed by a physical therapist, and whose license is in good standing.
  7. "Physical therapy" means the care and services provided by or under the direction and supervision of a physical therapist who is licensed pursuant to this article. The term "physiotherapist" shall be synonymous with "physical therapy" pursuant to this article. The practice of physical therapy means:
    1. Examining, evaluating, and testing patients and clients with mechanical, physiological, and developmental impairments, activity limitations, participation restrictions, and disabilities or other movement related conditions in order to determine a physical therapy diagnosis, prognosis, and plan of intervention and to assess the ongoing effects of intervention;
    2. Alleviating impairments of body structure or function by designing, implementing, and modifying interventions to improve activity limitations or participation restrictions for the purpose of preventing or reducing the incidence and severity of physical disability, bodily malfunction, and pain;
    3. Reducing the risk of injury, impairment, activity limitations, participation restrictions, and disability, including the promotion and maintenance of health, fitness, and wellness in populations of all ages;
    4. Planning, administering, evaluating, and modifying intervention and instruction, including the use of physical measures, activities, and devices, including but not limited to dry needling for preventative and therapeutic purposes; and
    5. Engaging in administration, consultation, education, teaching, research, telehealth, and the provision of instructional, consultative, educational, and other advisory services.
  8. "Physical therapy aide" means a person who only performs designated and supervised physical therapy tasks. The physical therapy aide must receive direct supervision and must be directed on the premises at all times by a licensee. Physical therapy aides are not licensed under this article.
  9. "Trainee" means an individual who is approved for a traineeship.
  10. "Traineeship" means a period of activity during which a trainee works under the direct supervision of a licensed physical therapist who has practiced for not less than one year prior to assuming the supervisory role.
  11. "Training permit" means a valid and current certificate of registration issued by the board which gives the person to whom it is issued authority to engage in practice through a traineeship prescribed thereon.

(Ga. L. 1951, p. 175, § 1; Ga. L. 1962, p. 633, § 1; Ga. L. 1972, p. 388, § 3; Ga. L. 1980, p. 1053, § 1; Ga. L. 1986, p. 812, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2434, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 715, § 1; Ga. L. 2011, p. 592, § 1/HB 145; Ga. L. 2015, p. 288, § 1/HB 505; Ga. L. 2019, p. 126, §§ 1, 4/HB 39.)

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, deleted a comma following "board" in paragraph (2); deleted the former last sentence of paragraph (5), which read: "A physical therapist shall be designated by the initials 'P.T.'"; deleted the former last sentence of paragraph (6), which read: "A physical therapist assistant shall be designated by the initials 'P.T.A.'"; and substituted the present provisions of paragraph (7) for the former provisions, which read: "'Physical therapy' means the examination, treatment, and instruction of human beings to detect, assess, prevent, correct, alleviate, and limit physical disability, bodily malfunction and pain from injury, disease, and any other bodily and mental conditions and includes the administration, interpretation, documentation, and evaluation of tests and measurements of bodily functions and structures; the planning, administration, evaluation, and modification of treatment and instruction, including the use of physical measures, activities, and devices, for preventative and therapeutic purposes, including but not limited to dry needling; and the provision of consultative, educational, and other advisory services for the purpose of preventing or reducing the incidence and severity of physical disability, bodily malfunction, and pain."; and deleted a comma following "board" in paragraph (11).

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, substituted "this article" for "this chapter" throughout this Code section, and added "or holding a valid Physical Therapy Licensure Compact privilege pursuant to Article 2 of this chapter" at the end of paragraph (3).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Judicial construction, not jury, defines "qualified physical therapist".

- In determining the meaning of the term "qualified physical therapist," a court would be inclined to decide the question in favor of judicial construction rather than a determination by a jury. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-483.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 61 Am. Jur. 2d, Physicians, Surgeons, and Other Healers, § 10.

ALR.

- Right of corporation to engage in business, trade, or activity requiring license from public, 165 A.L.R. 1098.


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