Free CE for Physical Therapists / Florida
Florida physical therapists and PTAs must complete 24 contact hours each biennium ending November 30 of odd-numbered years, and at least 12 of those hours must be live or real-time interactive webinar rather than self-paced.
✓ Verified against the Florida Board of Physical Therapy Practice (Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance) on August 4, 2026
| Topic | Hours | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Prevention of medical errors | 2 | every renewal; counts within the 24 |
| HIV/AIDS | 1 | no later than first renewal; counts within the 24 |
| Human trafficking | 1 | one-time; absorbed into the 22 general hours |
Fla. Admin. Code r. 64B17-9.001 (effective 8/14/2025) and Fla. Stat. §486.109. Requirements are identical for PTs and PTAs — the rule applies to "every person licensed pursuant to Chapter 486." A Florida contact hour is 50 minutes and 1 CEU equals 10 contact hours, so certificates must be labeled in contact hours or credit is misstated tenfold. Bienniums run 12/1 of an odd year through 11/30 of the next odd year (current: 12/1/2025–11/30/2027). Licensees issued in the second half of a biennium owe only the 2 medical-error hours plus 1 HIV/AIDS hour at first renewal. Sub-limits in subsection (3): no more than 5 risk-management hours per biennium, up to 3 HIV/AIDS hours countable, up to 3 medical-error hours countable. Florida has NO domestic violence requirement for PTs or PTAs — ch. 486 is absent from the list in Fla. Stat. §456.031(1)(a), a point many CE vendors get wrong. The Florida laws and rules examination is optional and worth 2 hours, not a mandate. THE FORMAT RULE IS THE BINDING CONSTRAINT: r. 64B17-9.001(1)(b) accepts a maximum of 12 contact hours by self-paced format per biennium, and self-paced courses must include both a certificate of completion and an examination; r. 64B17-9.001(1)(a) requires a minimum of 12 hours of formal live lecture or approved webinar, where a webinar counts as live only if it is real-time, has learning objectives, is interactive, has a post-course assessment, and the provider verifies attendance. Pre-recorded video is expressly self-paced, not live. CE Broker reporting is mandatory (Fla. Stat. §456.025(7)) and DOH reviews every licensee's record electronically at renewal, so there is no audit percentage to quote. Retain documentation 4 years.
Not on our Texas approval alone. Florida runs its own course- or provider-approval process, so a course has to clear that process before it counts toward your renewal here.
One caveat: Florida will not accept our Texas approval. Fla. Stat. §486.109(2) says the board "shall approve only" courses sponsored by an accredited college or university PT/PTA program, or sponsored or approved by the Florida Physical Therapy Association or the American Physical Therapy Association — a closed list, and TPTA is none of the three. The structure of the rule confirms chapter approval is not APTA approval: Florida had to name its own APTA chapter (FPTA) separately from APTA, which would be surplusage if chapters were already covered. Selling into Florida requires FPTA or APTA course approval, or accredited-university sponsorship, plus CE Broker provider registration.
Florida Board of Physical Therapy Practice (Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance)
https://floridasphysicaltherapy.gov/physical-therapist/
Requirements change. Confirm all figures on the board site above before relying on them.
Pulse offers free CE for PTs and PTAs, covered by local healthcare organizations — you pay nothing. Florida approves courses through its own process, so check the board rules above before counting a course toward this state's requirement.