This complete study pack has all three of the OPTS offerings for 2026-2027 rolled into one!

• 12/16 Week Study Plan

• Systematic Review SST Handout

• OPTS V Practice Exam

This document provides nearly everything required to self-study for the OCS board examination. Please note, this is a large file; opening on a desktop or laptop is recommended.

This updated practice test is intended to challenge a physical therapist's orthopedic physical therapy knowledge, test-taking endurance, and critical thinking abilities in preparation for the Orthopedic Clinical Specialization (OCS) board examination. The test utilizes information from all recommended source materials and combines a number of question-types to mimic the feel of the board exam.

This test features:

• A quick, easy digital (PDF) format

• 200 practice questions, broken into four 50-question parts

• An answer key with explanations/rationales for each practice question

• 42 "bonus questions" from past exams; included as additional test practice

• A test survey that allows you to see how your score compares to your peers

The fifth edition of this practice test is updated for the 2026-2025 test cycle, including questions based off of recent orthopedic physical therapy research developments (as recently as 2025). Research published in 2026 will likely not be on the OCS examination and therefore is not included in this test. We thank you for your consideration of this product, and applaud your efforts in furthering yourself and the profession!

The OPTS 12/16 Week Study Plan is a structured, clinician-designed roadmap for physical therapists preparing for the OCS board exam, offering flexible 12- or 16-week schedules that systematically cover all high-yield study materials aligned with the Orthopedic PT Description of Specialty Practice. Built for busy clinicians, it cuts through the overwhelm of exam prep by telling you exactly what to study, when to study it, and how to retain it.

Note: This study guide introduces you to and outlines the material that should be studied each week. It does not provide the materials directly to you, however most of these materials (sans the Current Concepts, 5th Ed.) are free to access. Links to each resource are included where available.

The OPTS SST Handout is a study resource for physical therapists preparing for the OCS board exam, compiling Single Sentence Takeaways from 62 systematic reviews published in JOSPT between 2018 and 2024, organized by body region. It distills a large volume of research literature into digestible summaries covering topics from the cervical spine to the foot and ankle, making it easier to review current evidence efficiently. It is designed to complement the OPTS 12/16 Week Study Plan.

NOTE: This is last year’s exam. It is not the most updated version, though it’s included here as a more affordable and still viable option. These tests are successively updated versions of the same content; we do not recommend buying more than one practice exam.

This practice test is intended to challenge a physical therapist's orthopedic physical therapy knowledge, test-taking endurance, and critical thinking abilities in preparation for the Orthopedic Clinical Specialization (OCS) board examination. The test utilizes information from all recommended source materials and combines a number of question-types to mimic the feel of the board exam.

This test features:

• A quick, easy digital (PDF) format

• 200 practice questions, broken into four 50-question parts

• An answer key with explanations for each practice question

• 41 "bonus questions" from past exams; included as additional test practice

• A test survey that allows you to see how your score compares to your peers

• A revised difficulty level to be more reflective of the actual examination

• Direct link to the Interventional Recommendations by CPG document

The fourth edition of this practice test is updated for the 2025-2026 test cycle, including questions based off of recent orthopedic physical therapy research developments (as recently as 2024). Research published in 2025 will likely not be on the OCS examination and therefore is not included in this test. We thank you for your consideration of this product, and applaud your efforts in furthering yourself and the profession!

Summary of all available clinical practice guideline interventional recommendations.

This blank template allows studiers to type every CPG’s interventional recommendations into an easy to use format that will assist with the organization and mental processing of all of the information. Because of the text size used, digital-only use is recommended.

This is a list of most of the known test clusters and clinical prediction rules. Note, some of these are proposed sign/symptom clusters or predictive variables while some are validated through the standard factor analysis procedures.