MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives committee on higher and technical education has opened an inquiry into the reported leakage of questions asked in the US licensure examinations for Filipino physical therapy (PT) graduates.
Because of the leak, US licensing authorities banned Filipino physical therapists from taking the exams for one year. However, the ban has recently been lifted.
Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, committee chairman, told The STAR yesterday that his panel has invited the owners and officers of Manila-based St. Louis Review Center to shed light on how they were involved in the reported leakage. A raid on the center reportedly turned up evidence of the leak.
“We want to find out what happened, how the test questions were leaked or obtained and circulated. The incident was an embarrassment not only to the review center involved but also to all our PTs who want to take the US exams so they can practice there,” he said.
Angara said his committee also wants to find out which government agency, if any, is supervising review centers like St. Louis, which reportedly conduct reviews not only for PT but for nursing and medical exams as well.
Last July 12, the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT), which administers the US National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE), banned PT graduates from the Philippines, Egypt, India, and Pakistan from taking the NPTE until fall (latter part) of next year.
However, last September, the FSBPT announced that graduates from the four “restricted” countries could take a special examination it designated as NPTE-i on May 25 and Dec. 5 next year.
Previously, the NPTE is given all year round in the US to all foreign PT graduates. Now, graduates from the Philippines, Egypt, India, and Pakistan can take it only twice a year.
More than nurses, PT practitioners are currently in demand in the US and are being recruited directly by American healthcare providers like hospitals and rehabilitation centers.