In 1964 APTA’s Board of Directors appointed an ad hoc committee to look into bringing non-physical therapist assistive personnel into some kind of formalized relationship with physical therapists. As a result of the committee’s favorable findings, APTA in 1967 adopted a policy statement that set the foundations for the birth of the “physical therapy assistant” (PTA) program. Two years later the term would be changed to “physical therapist assistant” to underscore the fact that the PTA assisted the individual PT rather than the more global field of physical therapy. The ad hoc committee had recommended that the association establish a membership category specifically for PTAs that would give them both recognition and prescribed opportunities to participate in some APTA affairs. In 1970 the House of Delegates took the first steps toward bringing PTAs into APTA by offering temporary affiliate membership. This status was formally mandated in 1973 by a one-vote margin in the House of Delegates.