DPT is the Future: NSP Debunks NARD’s Misleading Claims

RE: DOCTOR OF PHYSIOTHERAPY (DPT)

Debunking Falsehood

The Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy (NSP) has once again been confronted with falsehood as it is being propagated in a recent release by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), regarding the Doctor of Physiotherapy (DPT) programme. The DPT is the benchmark academic standard of physiotherapy training in Nigeria as approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC). NARD's grouse about the DPT is not only ill-advised but predicated on elitism, based on antiquated ideas and a horrifying lack of concern for higher education.

First, let the record show: this upgrade was not simply ratified “recently.” The National Universities Commission accredited the DPT curriculum as far back as 2018. This is not a suggestion—it is a policy, long in development and already yielding results. Nigeria has DPT graduates, many of whom completed the internationally accepted transitional DPT (tDPT) track. This change is no longer theoretical—it is a lived reality.

The DPT is not honorary, cosmetic, or a tool for competition with physicians. It is the global standard for physiotherapy education—a research-based, clinical, differential diagnosis entry point to a doctorate level of practice. The USA, Canada, South Africa, and Ghana have embraced the DPT as the minimum academic qualification for the practice of physiotherapy. Nigeria cannot remain behind in academic mediocrity to appease the status/anxiety of a privileged minority.

It is evident that certain individuals or groups are trying hard to deceive the public, portraying authentic academic reform as danger rather than progress. We owe it to ourselves to change the narrative—because what hangs in the balance is not just professional pride, but the fabric and quality of patient care in Nigeria.

If NARD insists that it stands for global best practice, then it must admit that in nations like the United Kingdom, physiotherapists have held top-level, independent roles within the healthcare system for a long time. These include:

-Consultant Physiotherapists leading services in MSK, neurology, rheumatology, pelvic health, cardiorespiratory, and chronic pain.
-Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACPs) in physiotherapy treating complex patients independently.
-Independent Prescriber Physiotherapists - legally empowered to prescribe drugs without medical guidance.
-Physiotherapists trained in injection therapy, ultrasound-guided treatment, and imaging referral.
-First Contact Physiotherapists (FCPs) in general practice who assess, evaluate, and treat patients without GP referral.
-Extended Scope Physiotherapists (ESPs) who triage surgical referrals, interpret imaging reports, conduct high-level procedures, and coordinate MDTs.
-Physiotherapists in consultant-level academic and clinical leadership, shaping policy, research, and national clinical guidelines

These are not hononary positions—they are the fruits of decades of academic advancement, evidence-based evolution, and healthcare system need. If the UK, with its gold-standard regulatory mechanisms, has embraced these roles, then Nigeria must ask itself: why are we resisting what the world has accepted as progress?

This is no longer about titles or money—it is an issue of ability, responsibility, and patient-centered care. We Nigerian physiotherapists are not looking upward—we are moving forward—with training, with intention, and with international backing.

To frame the serious academic and professional development of physiotherapists as an attempt to “compete” with physicians is intellectual arrogance of the highest order. The healthcare system is not the domain of a single profession. It’s a collaborative workplace where all cadres have a distinct, evidence-based, and irreplaceable role in achieving optimal patient outcomes.

Physiotherapists are not seeking permission. We are not campaigning for borrowed credibility. We are claiming what is earned, owed, and long overdue. The DPT represents the depth, responsibility, and autonomy that physiotherapists bring to clinical practice.

NARD must awaken to the reality that this is not a turf war—this is the future, and no gatekeeping, fear-mongering, or professional insecurity will stop the forward march of a profession that is already there.

We are not waiting. We are already here.

NSP PR TEAM