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A perfect score on the national boards for physical therapists is an elusive challenge. Prior to this year, only 11 alumni over the past decade have ever done so. But this year, a trifecta of new graduates aced the exam. 

Micah Wilson, Melissa Goo-Tam, and Justin Rasavage, all from the Class of 2023, scored a perfect 800 on the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE).

“When I saw the score of 800, I was in disbelief,” said Goo-Tam, who recently began working as a physical therapist at Dignity Health Rehabilitation Hospital in Henderson. “I even tried to look for another numerical score thinking the website was showing me the maximum points attainable on the exam.”

Wilson, a Kansas City native who now works in the Rehabilitation Unit at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, shared the same feeling upon seeing her results. 

“It felt unreal,” she recalled. “I studied to the best of my abilities during my last long-term clinical and in the few weeks leading up to the test, but I didn’t know if my efforts would translate to receiving a good score. It would have meant a lot just to pass the test, so receiving an 800 left me in disbelief.”

And who could blame them for questioning their results after seeing them for the first time?

UNLV’s graduates have consistently scored well above the national average, according to Merrill Landers, chair of the Department of Physical Therapy inside the School of Integrated Health Sciences. This year's class average of 687.6 was no exception. The 2023 national average for the NPTE was a 673.

Those stellar board scores are one of the factors that account for the department’s top quartile rankings among all physical therapy programs across the country,

“Getting a perfect score gave me the confidence to know that I am entering the PT profession both educated and ready to help people to the best of my ability,” said Rasavage, a Las Vegas native completing his sports residency at BreakThrough Physical Therapy located within Appalachian State University in North Carolina. “I have always been an extremely motivated student, and being successful on the NPTE provided me with the reassurance that my efforts were up to my standards of what I expected from myself.”

So, just how unique was it for three students from the same class to achieve a perfect NPTE score? 

“We’ve had several alumni get a perfect score on the board exam in previous years; but it is rare to have three in one year,” Landers said. “This achievement is a testament of their hard work, a sound DPT curriculum, and excellent faculty.”

Landers added that Wilson, Goo-Tam, and Rasavage also had the highest GPAs among their cohort, and commended them for their professionalism, preparation, and humility.

“While we have an excellent curriculum and terrific faculty, the onus of preparation is on each student. They should be commended for their efforts throughout the program,” he said.

And, while those perfect board scores certainly are worth bragging about, what they do as graduates to fill much-needed gaps in health care is even more important.

“Being in the School of Integrated Health Sciences definitely helped expose me to a variety of health care disciplines that I now collaborate with on a daily basis,” Wilson said. “Without that exposure that provided me with information about the importance of those disciplines, I don’t think I would have been as effective as a therapist when I first started working.”