Michigan Physical Therapist license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

Michigan physical therapists must complete 36 contact hours of continuing education every three years to renew their license with the Michigan Board of Physical Therapy (LARA Bureau of Professional Licensing). Under the physical therapy rules effective March 5, 2026, the renewal cycle is 3 years; R 338.7002(3) lists physical therapy licenses issued or renewed on or after that date as expiring triennially on the issue date. Renew online through MiPLUS no sooner than 90 days before the expiration date. The renewal fee shown in the January 2026 licensing guide is $297.75. Michigan also mandates specific subjects. Pain and symptom management: 1 contact hour every renewal cycle. Implicit bias training: 3 contact hours every renewal cycle. Training in identifying victims of human trafficking: a one-time requirement.

Michigan Physical Therapist renewal and continuing education rules

"Not stated" means the board's pages and rules we read do not address it. We do not fill in typical values.

Michigan counts professional development requirement (PDR) credits. R 338.7161(2), as amended effective March 5, 2026 (2026 MR 5), requires a physical therapist renewing to accumulate not less than 36 PDR credits during the 3 years immediately before the license expiration date (24 for physical therapist assistants). For approved continuing education, when the sponsor calculates credit at 0.1 credit per 50 to 60 minutes of instruction, 0.1 credit equals 1 PDR credit, so a PDR credit is about one contact hour. No more than 12 PDR credits may be earned for approved online programs completed in one 24-hour period (this is a per-day limit, not a cap on total online credit). Approved continuing education programs are capped at 30 PDR credits per renewal period in the activity table, so the balance must come from other listed activities. Duplicate credit for the same or a substantially equivalent program in one renewal period is not allowed. The rules read do not state a carryover provision or a first-renewal exemption; a waiver request may be submitted to the department at least 30 days before the last board meeting before expiration.

Required CE topics for Michigan physical therapists

State-specific subject mandates. Where a mandate applies only to some licensees, the scope is listed.

Documentation and audit

Common questions

How many CE hours does a Michigan PT need to renew?

Michigan physical therapists must complete 36 contact hours of continuing education every three years to renew their license with the Michigan Board of Physical Therapy (LARA Bureau of Professional Licensing). Michigan counts professional development requirement (PDR) credits. R 338.7161(2), as amended effective March 5, 2026 (2026 MR 5), requires a physical therapist renewing to accumulate not less than 36 PDR credits during the 3 years immediately before the license expiration date (24 for physical therapist assistants). For approved continuing education, when the sponsor calculates credit at 0.1 credit per 50 to 60 minutes of instruction, 0.1 credit equals 1 PDR credit, so a PDR credit is about one contact hour. No more than 12 PDR credits may be earned for approved online programs completed in one 24-hour period (this is a per-day limit, not a cap on total online credit). Approved continuing education programs are capped at 30 PDR credits per renewal period in the activity table, so the balance must come from other listed activities. Duplicate credit for the same or a substantially equivalent program in one renewal period is not allowed. The rules read do not state a carryover provision or a first-renewal exemption; a waiver request may be submitted to the department at least 30 days before the last board meeting before expiration.

How often does a Michigan PT license need to be renewed?

Physical Therapist licenses in Michigan renew every three years. Under the physical therapy rules effective March 5, 2026, the renewal cycle is 3 years; R 338.7002(3) lists physical therapy licenses issued or renewed on or after that date as expiring triennially on the issue date. Renew online through MiPLUS no sooner than 90 days before the expiration date. The renewal fee shown in the January 2026 licensing guide is $297.75.

What specific CE topics are required for Michigan physical therapists?

Pain and symptom management: 1 contact hour every renewal cycle. Implicit bias training: 3 contact hours every renewal cycle. Training in identifying victims of human trafficking: a one-time requirement. Citations: pain and symptom management (R 338.7163(1)(c); MCL 333.16204(2)), implicit bias training (R 338.7004(2); R 338.7163(1)(d)), and training in identifying victims of human trafficking (R 338.7126; MCL 333.16148).

Do Michigan physical therapists have to submit CE certificates at renewal?

Licensees attest to completion at renewal rather than submitting certificates, the board audits a sample of renewals and asks for documentation, and records must be kept for 4 years. Submitting the renewal application is the licensee's certification of compliance; documentation is kept for 4 years after applying for renewal and produced if audited (R 338.7161(3)). A continuing education program is approved, in any format, if approved or offered for credit by another state board of physical therapy, another board under Article 15 of the Public Health Code, FSBPT, APTA or its components (including APTA Michigan, sections, and academies), or an accredited PT or PTA educational program (R 338.7163(4)). The Bureau partners with CE Broker for tracking.

Sources

Last verified September 7, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.

• Michigan Administrative Code, Physical Therapy General Rules R 338.7101 to R 338.7163 (2026 MR 5, effective March 5, 2026)Statute or administrative rule, accessed September 7, 2026
• Physical Therapist Licensing Guide, LARA Bureau of Professional Licensing, revised January 26, 2026State board page, accessed September 7, 2026
• Physical Therapy, Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory AffairsState board page, accessed September 7, 2026
• Mich. Admin. Code R 338.7002 License and registration renewal cycles (LII mirror)Third-party summary, accessed September 7, 2026
• Mich. Admin. Code R 338.7004 Implicit bias training (LII mirror)Third-party summary, accessed September 7, 2026

The 36 PDR credit total and 3-year window were read directly in R 338.7161 as amended effective March 5, 2026 and repeated in LARA's January 2026 licensing guide (Renewal Cycle: 3 years; 36 PDR credits). Several CE vendor pages still describe the prior 24 credits per 2-year cycle; those were not used. Licenses issued or renewed before March 5, 2026 keep their existing expiration date until the next renewal, and the prior expiration schedule was not read from a primary source. The Public Health Code General Rules (R 338.7002 and R 338.7004) could not be downloaded from LARA's rules site, so the Cornell mirror was used for the triennial cycle basis and the implicit bias hours. The rules do not state carryover, a first-renewal exemption, or a total online cap. Source hygiene fix 2026-09-09: the Michigan administrative code citation pointed at the LARA endpoint without the ReturnHTML parameter, which serves the rules as an octet-stream attachment rather than a page. The same rule text is served as HTML with ReturnHTML=True, which is the form every other Michigan record uses, so the citation now points there. No recorded value changed.