Can a Physical Therapist With a DPT Be Called "Dr."? The Rules in Every State

In most states a physical therapist with a DPT can use “Dr.,” but almost never on its own. In 21 states a law or rule allows it with conditions, and the usual condition is that you also say you're a physical therapist or name your degree next to the title. In 27 states and DC, the PT practice act and the other laws I checked have nothing specific on it. Maine's medical practice act reads as a restriction, and New Jersey's is unclear.

The rules come from three places, and that is the main way states differ. Some PT acts and PT boards have their own rule. Some states have a general law that names physical therapists. Others have a law for every health profession, often in the medical practice act, that says anyone using “Dr.” in health care must add the profession they're licensed in. I'm an occupational therapist, not a PT, so I've stuck to what the rules say.

This isn't legal advice. I checked every rule on November 9, 2026, on the state's own legislature, code or board site. Your board's current rule is the one that counts.

The Short Answer

• Yes, with conditions, in 21 states. The condition is almost always to name your profession or your degree next to “Dr.”
  • 8 set it in the PT act or the PT board's rules: Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, North Dakota, Oregon and Texas.
  • 3 set it in a general law that names physical therapists: Iowa, Kentucky and Oklahoma.
  • 10 set it in a law or rule for every health profession, usually the medical practice act: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont.
• Nothing specific in 27 states and DC. That isn't a green light. It means nothing I found speaks to “Dr.” for a PT, so the general rules against misleading patients still apply.
• Restricted in Maine. The medical practice act lists the licensees who may prefix “Dr.” to their name, and PTs aren't on it. That section is repealed on January 1, 2027.
• Unclear in New Jersey. An old clause in the medical practice act treats anyone who uses “Dr.” and holds out to treat as practicing medicine.
• The DPT letters are protected almost everywhere. Most PT acts put DPT or doctor of physical therapy on the protected-title list, so only a licensed PT can use them, and several states add that you must have earned the degree.
• No state I checked lets a PT use “Dr.” in a way that suggests a physician, and many medical practice acts forbid it outright.

Every State at a Glance

Yes, with conditions means a law or rule allows a PT with a doctorate to use “Dr.” and sets terms. Not addressed means the PT act, the PT rules and the general laws I checked say nothing specific about it. Each citation links to the official source I read.

States That Set the Rule in the PT Act or PT Rules

Eight states answer the question in the physical therapy law itself. They all say yes, and they all attach a condition.

California has the most detailed rule. Bus. & Prof. Code § 2633(b) (opens in a new tab) lets a PT with a DPT do three things:

(1) In a written communication, use the initials DPT, PhD, or EdD, as applicable, following the licensee’s name. (2) In a written communication, use the title “Doctor” or the abbreviation “Dr.” preceding the licensee’s name, if the licensee’s name is immediately followed by an unabbreviated specification of the applicable doctoral degree held by the licensee. (3) In a spoken communication while engaged in the practice of physical therapy, use the title “doctor” preceding the person’s name, if the speaker specifies that he or she is a physical therapist.

So on a business card it's Dr. Jane Doe, Doctor of Physical Therapy, spelled out. At the bedside it's I'm Dr. Doe, your physical therapist.

Colorado's PT board sets it out in 4 CCR 732-1, Rule 1.5(H) (opens in a new tab):

1. Obtaining a physical therapy license does not automatically entitle or confer upon the licensee the right to use the title “Dr.” or “Doctor”. 2. A licensed physical therapist can use the title “Doctor” or “Dr.” only when such licensee has, in fact, been awarded a physical therapy doctorate degree (D.P.T.), or another academic or clinical doctorate degree (e.g., Ph.D., Sc.D.) from an accredited program by a nationally recognized accrediting agency ...

The rule's examples are “Dr. Jane/John Doe, P.T., D.P.T.” and “Dr. Jane/John Doe, P.T., Ph.D.”

Texas. The PT board's rule, 22 TAC § 335.1 (opens in a new tab), starts by saying “No other titles or initials are conferred by a license from this board,” then:

(b) Any letters designating other titles, academic degrees, or certifications must follow the initials PT or PTA (example: Jane Doe, PT, DPT). (c) In using the title "doctor" as a trade or professional asset or on any manner of professional identification, including a sign, pamphlet, stationery, or letterhead, or as a part of a signature, a physical therapist shall designate the college or honorary degree that gives rise to the use of the title, or the authority under which the title is used.

The board's FAQ (opens in a new tab) turns that into examples: a DPT “can put “Dr. Jane Doe, PT, DPT” (licensure designation followed by academic designation) on her business card, signage, or advertisement.” In person, “she would need to say something like, “Hi, I am Dr. Jane Doe, and I am your physical therapist.”” The same wording appears in Texas's general Healing Art Identification Act, Occ. Code § 104.004 (opens in a new tab), which covers every person other than physicians, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists and podiatrists who uses the title “doctor.”

Kansas and North Dakota put it in the PT act in one sentence each. K.S.A. 65-2913(a) (opens in a new tab): “Each licensee when using the letters or term “Dr.” or “Doctor” in conjunction with such licensee's professional practice, whether in any written or oral communication, shall identify oneself as a “physical therapist” or “doctor of physical therapy.”” N.D.C.C. § 43-26.1-15 (opens in a new tab): “A physical therapist holding a doctor of physical therapy or other doctoral degree may not use the title “doctor” without clearly informing the public of the physical therapist's licensure as a physical therapist.”

Oregon has it twice. The PT act, ORS 688.020(2) (opens in a new tab), says “Only a person who holds a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree may use the title “Doctor of Physical Therapy” or the abbreviation “D.P.T.”” and such a person “may not use the title of “doctor” without also clearly using language to inform the public that the person is a doctor of physical therapy.” The general law for every health profession, ORS 676.110(2) (opens in a new tab), adds a size rule:

(b) An individual who uses the title “doctor” in connection with the health care profession the individual practices shall designate the health care profession in which the individual earned a doctoral degree on all material used in connection with the health care profession. The designation must: (A) Be in letters or print at least one-fourth the size of the largest letters or print used on the material ...

“Material” there includes “electronic or printed matter, social media, advertising, billboards, signs, professional notices and professional name badges.”

Georgia makes it a ground for discipline. Under O.C.G.A. § 43-33-18(a)(1) (opens in a new tab), as rewritten by HB 505 in 2015, the board can discipline a PT who has “Identified himself or herself as a doctor without also clearly informing the public of” his or her professional credential as a physical therapist. The same act says “A physical therapist shall clearly inform the public of his or her professional credential” as a physical therapist. I quoted the 2015 act because Georgia's code is only published online by Lexis.

Alabama uses its board rules. Ala. Admin. Code r. 700-X-3-.02(2)(i) (opens in a new tab) lists as unbecoming conduct “Using the word "doctor" in offering to perform professional services without also indicating the discipline in which the licensee holds a doctorate.”

General Laws That Name Physical Therapists

Three states handle doctor titles in a law for health professions generally, and name PTs in it.

Iowa. Iowa Code § 147.74 (opens in a new tab) lists the title each licensed profession uses. Paragraph 8:

A physical therapist with an earned doctoral degree from an accredited school, college, or university may use the suffix designating the degree, or the prefix “Doctor” or “Dr.” and add after the person’s name the words “physical therapist”.

Failing to use the designations in that section is a simple misdemeanor.

Kentucky. KRS 311.375 (opens in a new tab) covers medicine, nursing, “physio or physical therapy” and every other healing profession:

No person who holds a doctor degree, as provided in subsection (1) of this section, shall use or employ the title "Doctor" or "Dr." in or upon any letter, statement, card, prescription, sign, listing or other writing held out to the public without affixing suitable words or letters designating the particular doctor degree held by such person.

In ads, billboards and signs, the degree must be “at least three-fourths (3/4) that of the title “Doctor” or “Dr.”” A violation with intent to deceive costs your license for six months to a year.

Oklahoma. 59 O.S. § 725.2 (opens in a new tab) lists ten groups who “may use the word “Doctor”, or an abbreviation thereof.” Number 10 is “The letters “D.P.T.” or the title Doctor of Physical Therapy by a person licensed to practice physical therapy under the Physical Therapy Practice Act who has earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from a program approved by a national accrediting body recognized by the State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision.” Section 725.1 then requires those groups to append those letters or words to their name. The PT act, § 887.14 (opens in a new tab), says the same about the title Doctor of Physical Therapy.

Laws for Every Health Profession

In ten more states the rule sits in a law that covers everyone in health care, usually the medical practice act. The pattern is the same: “Dr.” is fine if you add the profession you're licensed in.

• New York puts it in the Regents' rules for every health profession. Under 8 NYCRR § 29.2(a)(4) (opens in a new tab), unprofessional conduct includes “using the word "Doctor" in offering to perform professional services without also indicating the profession in which the licensee holds a doctorate.” The PT board's Practice Guideline 2 (opens in a new tab) gives the example: “2.4 Use of the title "doctor" when offering to perform professional services must indicate the profession in which the licensee holds a doctorate (i.e., Dr. Jane Smith, P.T.).” That guideline is board guidance, not a rule.
• Alaska's AS 08.02.110(a) (opens in a new tab) names physical therapists in its list. Each “shall use as professional identification appropriate letters or a title after that person's name that represents the person's specific field of practice,” on “all signs, stationery, or other advertising.”
• South Dakota's SDCL 36-4-23 (opens in a new tab): “No person practicing any of the healing arts shall use the title "doctor" or any contraction thereof, in connection with his business or profession, or any written or printed material, or in connection with any advertising, unless he add after his name the recognized abbreviation or specification of the branch of the healing art in which he is licensed to practice and is engaged.” It's a Class 1 misdemeanor.
• Arkansas's “Doctor” title law, Ark. Code § 17-80-112 (opens in a new tab), bars the title in health care “except in the practice of one (1) of the healthcare professions regulated under § 17-1-101 et seq., in which case the person shall use the title in accordance with the statutes and rules governing the particular healthcare profession.” Arkansas's PT act and rules add nothing more, so a licensed DPT may use it.
• Delaware's medical practice act, 24 Del. C. § 1703(6) (opens in a new tab), exempts a person with a doctorate who uses “Dr.” “except in matters related to medicine or health, in which case the type of doctorate held must be specified.”
• Arizona, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Vermont write it into the definition of practicing medicine. North Carolina's G.S. 90-1.1(5)e (opens in a new tab) is typical: using “Doctor” or “Dr.” “in the conduct of any occupation or profession pertaining to the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of human disease or condition” is practicing medicine “unless the designation additionally contains the description of or reference to another branch of the healing arts for which the individual holds a valid license in this State.” Arizona's version is A.R.S. § 32-1455(B)(3) (opens in a new tab), South Carolina's is § 40-47-20 (opens in a new tab), Utah's is § 58-67-102(19)(a)(iv) (opens in a new tab) and Vermont's is 26 V.S.A. § 1311(1)(A) (opens in a new tab).

Alabama's medical practice act has the same clause, at Ala. Code § 34-24-50(3) (opens in a new tab), on top of its PT board rule.

Maine and New Jersey

Maine is the one state where the text reads as a restriction. Its medical practice act, 32 M.R.S. § 3270 (opens in a new tab), lists who may prefix “Dr.”: osteopathic physicians, chiropractors, dentists, naturopathic doctors, optometrists and podiatrists. Using “Dr.” “contrary to this section” is a Class E crime. The exception for other doctorates is narrow:

Nothing contained in this section prevents an individual who has received the doctor's degree from a reputable college or university, other than the degree of "Doctor of Medicine" from prefixing the letters "Dr." to that individual's name, if that individual is not engaged, and does not engage, in the practice of medicine or surgery or the treatment of a disease or human ailment.

A PT treats human ailments, so on its face the exception doesn't help. Maine's PT act and board rules say nothing either way. The whole section is repealed on January 1, 2027, as Maine rewrites its medical licensing law, so check with the board before relying on either version.

New Jersey's medical practice act, N.J.S.A. 45:9-18 (opens in a new tab), says a person is practicing medicine if they “shall use the words or letters "Dr." , "doctor" , "professor" , "M. D." , or "M. B." in connection with his name” and hold themselves out as able to diagnose or treat “any human disease, pain, injury, deformity or physical condition.” The exemption for PTs in § 45:9-21 dates from when PTs worked only under a physician's direction. The PT act lists the titles a licensee may use, “physical therapist,” or “licensed physical therapist,” or PT or LPT, and protects DPT (§ 45:9-37.30 (opens in a new tab)), but says nothing about “Dr.” I've marked it unclear. Ask the board.

Laws That Require Your License Type, Not Just Your Title

Some states don't mention “Dr.” but require every health professional to show patients what license they hold. These apply whatever title you use:

• Florida: Fla. Stat. § 456.072(1)(t) (opens in a new tab) makes it a ground for discipline to fail “to identify through written notice, which may include the wearing of a name tag, or orally to a patient the type of license under which the practitioner is practicing.” Any ad naming you “must identify the type of license the practitioner holds.”
• Nevada: under NRS 629.076 (opens in a new tab), an ad must “identify the type of license or certificate held by the health care professional,” your office must display a written disclosure, and you must “wear a name tag which indicates his or her specific licensure or certification.”
• Arizona: A.R.S. § 32-3213 (opens in a new tab) says “An advertisement for health care services that includes a health professional's name shall identify the title and type of license the health professional holds and under which the health professional is practicing.”
• Georgia: the PT board's rule 490-9-.04(e) (opens in a new tab) enforces the state's Consumer Information and Awareness Act by “affirmatively communicating your type of regulatory designator (PT, PTA), level of education, and training to all current and prospective patients by way of a name badge, facility notices and advertisements.”
• Tennessee: the PT rule, 1150-01-.03(5) (opens in a new tab), says leaving an authorized title off an ad “will constitute an omission of a material fact which makes the advertisement misleading and deceptive.”

In home health this is the practical part. Patients meet you at their kitchen table, often after a hospital stay full of doctors. If your badge says Dr. and nothing else, many of them will assume you're a physician.

What APTA Says

APTA's own position isn't law, and it binds only APTA members. Its position on Consumer Protection Through Licensure of Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants (opens in a new tab) (HOD P07-25-59-04) says:

APTA supports the use of the titles “Physical Therapist” and “Doctor of Physical Therapy” only for physical therapists and in accordance with jurisdictional law. To provide accurate information to consumers, use of “Dr.” or “Doctor” should always be associated with words that clearly communicate that it is identifying a licensed physical therapist.

That matches what the strictest states require, and it's a sensible default where your state says nothing.

What About PTAs?

A PTA license doesn't carry a doctor title. California says it outright in Bus. & Prof. Code § 2633.5(b) (opens in a new tab) (the board's copy of the act): “The license of a physical therapist assistant shall not authorize the use of the prefix “LPT,” “RPT,” “PT,” or “Dr.,” or the title “physical therapist,” “therapist,” “doctor,” or any affix indicating or implying that the physical therapist assistant is a physical therapist or doctor.” The PT title rules elsewhere are written for physical therapists. A PTA with a doctorate in another field falls under the state's general doctor title law, where there is one.

How to Use the Title Safely Anywhere

None of this is legal advice. It's what the strictest rules have in common, so it works in every state that allows the title.

1. Only with the degree. No DPT, PhD or other earned doctorate, no “Dr.” Colorado, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Oregon say so outright.
2. Always say physical therapist with it. In person: I'm Dr. Doe, your physical therapist. That meets Kansas, North Dakota, California's spoken rule and Texas's FAQ.
3. In writing, follow the license with the degree. Jane Doe, PT, DPT is the order Texas, Colorado, Ohio and New York's guidance use. If you put Dr. in front, keep PT and DPT after the name, or spell out Doctor of Physical Therapy for California.
4. Make the profession readable on badges and ads. Oregon wants it at least a quarter of the size of your largest print, Kentucky three-quarters of the size of the title.
5. Brief the front office. Schedulers who say the doctor will see you create the confusion the laws are written to stop.
6. Check each state you work in. On a compact privilege or a telehealth visit, the patient's state's rule applies. Our licensure compact tool links each state's PT board, and the PT Compact page explains how privileges work.
7. When in doubt, ask the board. Especially in Maine and New Jersey.

Key Takeaways

• 21 states allow a PT with a doctorate to use “Dr.” with conditions: 8 in the PT act or rules, 3 in a general law that names PTs, and 10 in a law for every health profession.
• The condition is nearly always the same: say you're a physical therapist, or name your degree next to the title.
• 27 states and DC have nothing specific. That leaves you with the general rules against misleading patients, not a free pass.
• Maine's medical practice act reads as a restriction until it's repealed on January 1, 2027. New Jersey's old medical act wording leaves it unclear.
• The DPT letters are protected almost everywhere, and only for licensed PTs.
• This isn't legal advice. I checked these rules on November 9, 2026, and your board's current rule is the one that counts.

Frequently asked questions

Can a physical therapist with a DPT be called "Dr."?

In most states, yes, as long as you say you're a physical therapist, but the rules come from different places. In 21 states a law or rule allows it with conditions, usually naming your profession or your degree next to the title. 27 states and DC have nothing specific on it. Maine's medical practice act reads as a restriction, and New Jersey's old medical act wording leaves it unclear.

Do I have to say I am a physical therapist when I use "Dr."?

In most of the 21 states with a rule, yes, in some form. Kansas, North Dakota, Georgia and Oregon require you to make clear you're a physical therapist. California wants the full degree after your name in writing and the words physical therapist when you speak. Texas and Kentucky want the degree named. Iowa wants the words physical therapist after your name. Where the law is silent, saying it anyway is what APTA asks of its members.

Can a physical therapist without a DPT use the DPT letters?

No. Most PT acts protect the letters DPT or the words doctor of physical therapy, and several limit them to people who earned the degree. Connecticut, Florida, New York and Oregon say so in their acts, and Colorado in its rules. A PT with a master's degree should sign with PT and the degree actually earned.

Can a physical therapist assistant use "Dr."?

Not on the strength of a PTA license. California's act says so in as many words, and the other states' title rules are written for physical therapists. A PTA who holds a doctorate in another field should follow that state's general doctor title law, which usually means naming the field of the degree.

Sources

Every state's rule is linked in the table, to the state's legislature, its official administrative code publisher or its PT board. All were read on November 9, 2026.

• APTA, Consumer Protection Through Licensure of Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants (opens in a new tab), HOD P07-25-59-04.
• Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners, FAQ: Can I use the title doctor if I have a DPT, PhD, or other doctoral level degree? (opens in a new tab)
• New York State Education Department, PT Practice Guideline 2: Advertising and Specialty Credentials (opens in a new tab) and Education Law § 6732 (opens in a new tab).
• Ohio OTPTAT Board, Physical Therapy Scope of Practice and FAQs (opens in a new tab).
• Physical Therapy Board of California, Physical Therapy Practice Act, January 2025 edition (opens in a new tab).