To all forum participants,

Discussion forums such as the Physio Forum provide a valuable means of sharing information, advice, and personal experiences for individuals preparing for important events such as applying for licensure. Collaboration is a valuable part of the learning process.

The original posting on 12-01-2010 was not meant to discourage such collaboration. Rather, it was meant to highlight recent inappropriate actions performed by licensure candidates preparing for the U.S. licensure examination (the National Physical Therapy Examination, or NPTE) that violated U.S. laws and resulted in severe penalties. The hope is that sharing current examples of unacceptable test preparation strategies will prevent others from performing the same actions and experiencing the same penalties.

One example involved an individual posting recalled test questions from a recently taken test to solicit feedback on the correct answer and an explanation for why the answer was correct. In this case, the individual signed three contracts or security agreements as part of taking the NPTE, agreeing to abide by confidentiality rules, which included refraining from sharing test questions or other test content with anyone. The individual understood the security agreement but thought it was ok to post these questions because other discussion group participants were sharing their recalled questions. According to U.S. copyright law, this person’s behavior (as well as others on that discussion forum), even though well intentioned, was theft.

In a second example, an individual attended a review course. Other students attending the course were sharing questions, but no one came out and said the questions were from the NPTE. Questions can come from many sources, and the individual did not know the questions were from the NPTE and protected by U.S. copyright laws. After the course, this individual posted several of these shared questions on an online discussion forum, again seeking understanding of the correct answer and the rationale for the question. According to U.S. copyright law, this person’s behavior, even though well intentioned, and even though the individual did not know the questions were protected by copyright law, was theft. This person could have avoided violating copyright laws by posting to the discussion forum general topics or concepts that were confusing rather than specific test questions and options.

In a third example, an individual obtained a copy of a practice exam, later emailing that copy to other test takers. The copyrighted practice exam, which is available for a fee to test takers, is protected by U.S. copyright law. The individual was not authorized to possess the copy because no fee was paid, and the individual was not authorized to distribute the practice test to other examinees. Under no circumstances is this type of sharing permitted under the premise of educational purposes. This behavior is considered theft.

Using a discussion forum to solicit input on general concepts and principles is appropriate. Using a discussion forum to try to obtain advance information about test content, or to provide others with advance information, is not appropriate.