Section 20-74 - Construction. Administration by commissioner(a) No provision of this chapter shall confer any authority to practice medicine or surgery, nor shall this chapter prohibit the incidental care of the sick by domestic servants or by persons principally employed as housekeepers or as athletic trainers, nor prohibit any person from the domestic administration of family remedies or the furnishing of assistance in the case of emergency. It shall not prohibit persons registered under the provisions of chapter 372, 373, 375 or 378 from administering care to patients, nor shall it prohibit the care of the sick with or without compensation or personal profit in connection with the practice of the religious tenets of any church by adherents thereof, provided such persons shall not otherwise engage in the practice of physical therapy or assist in the practice of physical therapy within the meaning of this chapter. It shall not prohibit students who are enrolled in schools or courses of physical therapy or physical therapist assistant programs approved by the Board of Examiners for Physical Therapists with the consent of the Commissioner of Public Health from performing such work as is incidental to their respective courses of study; nor shall it prohibit any physical therapist from another state from doing such therapist's work or other physical therapy activities as is incidental to the person's course of study when taking or giving a postgraduate course or other courses of study in this state approved by said board. Any physical therapist who is a graduate from a school approved by the board with the consent of the Department of Public Health but not licensed in this state may, with the approval of the department and upon obtaining a temporary certificate from the department, practice physical therapy in this state on a temporary basis for a period of six months, which period may be extended upon request at the discretion of the department, provided (1) such physical therapist does not claim to be licensed to practice in this state, and (2) application for licensure by examination, reciprocity or endorsement is filed with the department within six months after starting such practice. Persons in the service of the federal government are excluded from the provisions of this chapter.(b) The Commissioner of Public Health shall administer the provisions of this chapter with respect to the licensing of physical therapist assistants within available appropriations.(1949 Rev., S. 4408; 1953, S. 2212d; 1959, P.A. 575, S. 6; P.A. 73-579, S. 5; P.A. 80-336, S. 5; P.A. 81-473, S. 21, 43; P.A. 88-362, S. 10; P.A. 89-307, S. 3; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 96-174, S. 2, 3; P.A. 99-102, S. 26; P.A. 00-226, S. 17, 20.)