Eligibility Policy and Requirements

The mission of The McKenzie Institute is to educate all appropriate health care professionals in the mechanical assessment, diagnosis and treatment of the spine and extremities and to conduct or support research in this area.

Appropriate health care professionals are those with academic backgrounds that are supported by licensure, certification, or registration by a national regulatory or certifying organization and so will possess the requisite knowledge and skills to best understand and apply the principles of the McKenzie Method® of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy® (MDT).

The entirety of the course curriculum may not be appropriate for use by all participants as some aspects may be outside the scope of their license or regulation. All course participants are legally and ethically responsible to know the scope of their individual license or regulation and we recommend all review the applicable laws, the Standards of Practice, and the Code of Ethics of their profession to determine to what degree they may use the information, material and techniques taught in the courses within their professional and provincial jurisdictions.

From our review of consistent academic and licensing criterion, we have established these guidelines in determining the appropriate professionals who are eligible to enroll in our Program of Certification, or parts thereof, as follows:

Minimal Criteria to attend Full Program of MDT Certification (Parts A-D and Credentialing Examination):

Healthcare practitioner with at least a Bachelor’s Degree in the field of study AND current licensure in the state of practice, or registration by the appropriate state or national regulatory organization.

(Approved healthcare providers: PT, DC, MD, DO, NP, and PA; and in some cases, ATC, OT, and RCEP by ACSM)

Minimal Criteria to Attend Parts A and B:

1. Healthcare practitioner with an Associate’s Degree in the field of study AND current licensure in the state of practice (Approved providers: PTAs) PTA Position Statement


2. A Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in the field of study, but in a state without licensure or registration, or the practitioner has yet to become licensed or pass registry exam requirements. (Approved providers: ATC, OT, EP)


3. A Physical Therapy or Chiropractic student in good academic standing matriculated full-time in the professional phase of an accredited physical therapy/chiropractic program who has successfully completed at least one course in musculoskeletal examination and treatment in the curriculum and a musculoskeletal clinical affiliation is eligible to register and attend the Part A course. Students are not permitted to continue in the series of courses until they have graduated and become licensed professionals.

Part C and D for PTAs Supervised by Credentialed or Diplomaed MDT Physical Therapists:

A PTA may attend Parts C and D if they are currently under the direct supervision of a McKenzie MDT physical therapist who is also active according to the MDT Certification Continuing Education Standards (CCES) policy. A letter from the active certified MDT provider must accompany each course registration to verify continuous supervision and adherence to PT and PTA state practice acts. The PTA will also be required to attest to having read the MIUSA PTA Position Statement and agree that they are responsible to utilize MDT strictly in accordance with their state practice act. It is also the professional responsibility of the PT to delegate appropriately to the PTA who is learning the information presented in this course.