Physical Medicine Apprentice Course

The Physical Medicine enlisted career field (4J0X2) include initial training at JBSA Fort Sam Houston TX on the Medical Education Training Campus (METC). Training includes a preparatory course (15 academic days) and an apprentice course (81 academic days). Enlisted graduates work as assistants to physical therapists at Medical Treatment Facilities (MTFs).

The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act addressed the need to acquire licenses and certifications for military members, but our graduates do not have the needed associate degree from an accredited program to qualify to sit for the licensure test. The program must be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). Programmatic accreditation with CAPTE is a long and complex process.

A local college in San Antonio that already holds this programmatic accreditation needs to train our Air Force members. Normally, these are two-year programs with civilian institutions. With our members continuing to complete the preparatory course and apprentice course to build on, those credits can be transferred in along with approximately 174 additional training days needed with the local college for their portion of the training.

Air Force students must be a separate training cohort from civilian students as they complete requirements for an associate degree. This is a performance-based non-personal service requirement to provide education and training to Air Force members in the 4J0X2 career field, culminating in a Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) associate degree from the CAPTE accredited program from a college in San Antonio. The education and training has two (2) phases.

First is the classroom and lab practice for students to complete course work for core classes and electives, and second is the clinical experience work to be performed at various partnered institutions. Both phases of this education and training must be conducted in the San Antonio TX area.