Choosing the Right Specialty and Template

Why specialty matters

Specialty selection is the single most important parameter for note quality. Each specialty uses a different prompt that tunes the note structure, terminology, section emphasis, and clinical focus. A psychotherapy transcript sent with specialty "nurse_practitioner" will produce a medically-focused SOAP note instead of a therapy-formatted note. Always match the specialty to the provider who conducted the encounter.

How specialties affect output

• Section structure: Psychiatry notes emphasize Mental Status Exam in Objective; physical therapy notes include functional assessments.
• Terminology: Dental notes use tooth numbering (e.g., #14 MOD); chiropractic notes reference spinal segments (e.g., C5-C6 subluxation).
• Assessment format: Primary care uses ICD-10 problem lists; psychotherapy uses clinical impressions with treatment progress.
• Plan organization: Surgery notes include post-operative instructions; pharmacy notes include medication management plans.

Full specialty reference

Pass one of these values as the specialty field in your POST /v1/note request. You can also retrieve this list programmatically with GET /v1/specialties.

GET /v1/specialties

# No authentication required -- this is a public endpoint
curl https://api.soapnoteapi.com/v1/specialties

Primary care and general medicine

• nurse_practitioner -- Nurse Practitioner. General primary care SOAP notes with standard HPI, ROS, and physical exam formatting.
• physician -- Physician. Comprehensive physician notes with detailed differential diagnosis support. Use the primary_care_physician template for family/internal medicine.
• registered_nurse -- Registered Nurse. Nursing assessment and care documentation.
• generic -- Generic. A general-purpose SOAP note format that works across all disciplines when no specialty-specific template is needed.

Mental and behavioral health

• psychiatrist -- Psychiatrist. Psychiatric evaluation with Mental Status Exam, medication management, and diagnostic formulation.
• psychotherapist -- Psychotherapist. Therapy session SOAP notes with session dynamics, therapeutic interventions, and treatment progress.
• psychotherapistv2 -- Psychotherapist (Enhanced). Enhanced therapy notes with questionnaire support and audit-ready formatting for insurance compliance.
• social_worker -- Social Worker. Social work documentation including psychosocial assessments and care coordination.

Rehabilitation and allied health

• physical_therapy -- Physical Therapy. PT evaluation and treatment notes with functional assessments, exercise prescriptions, and progress measures.
• occupational_therapy -- Occupational Therapy. OT documentation with ADL assessments, therapeutic activities, and functional goals.
• slp -- Speech Language Pathology. Speech therapy notes with articulation, language, and swallowing assessments.
• massage_therapy -- Massage Therapy. Massage treatment notes with areas treated, techniques used, and soft tissue findings.
• chiropractor -- Chiropractor. Chiropractic notes with spinal segment findings, adjustment techniques, and rehab exercises.

Dental and specialty

• dentist -- Dentist. Dental examination and treatment notes with tooth numbering and procedure codes.
• acupuncture -- Acupuncture. Traditional Chinese Medicine documentation with point selections, pulse diagnosis, and treatment principles.
• podiatrist -- Podiatrist. Podiatric examination and treatment notes.
• pharmacy -- Pharmacy. Medication therapy management and pharmaceutical care documentation.
• veterinary -- Veterinary. Veterinary examination notes adapted for animal patients with species-appropriate terminology.
• genetic_counselling -- Genetic Counseling. Genetic counseling session documentation.

Nutrition and fitness

• dietitian_nutritionist -- Dietitian / Nutritionist. Nutrition counseling and dietary management documentation.
• athletic_trainer -- Athletic Trainer. Athletic training assessment and treatment notes.
• exercise_therapy -- Exercise Therapy. Exercise therapy documentation with program details and progress.

Wellness and complementary

• aroma_therapy -- Aromatherapy. Aromatherapy session documentation.

Emergency services

• ems -- Emergency Medical Services. EMS encounter and patient care reports.
• paramedic -- Paramedic. Paramedic assessment and treatment documentation.

Using templates

Templates provide sub-specialty formatting within a specialty. Pass the template field alongside specialty to select a specific note format. If omitted, the default "standard" template is used.

{
  "transcript": "Patient presents for initial evaluation...",
  "specialty": "physical_therapy",
  "template": "physical_therapy_initial_eval"
}

Mapping your platform provider types

If your platform uses its own provider type taxonomy, map your types to SOAPNoteAPI specialties at integration time. Here are common mappings:

• MD / DO / Internist / Family Medicine -> physician or primary_care_physician
• NP / APRN / PA -> nurse_practitioner
• LCSW / LMFT / Licensed Counselor -> psychotherapist or social_worker
• PhD / PsyD Psychologist -> psychotherapist or psychotherapistv2
• Psychiatrist / PMHNP -> psychiatrist
• DPT / Physical Therapist -> physical_therapy
• OTR / Occupational Therapist -> occupational_therapy
• SLP / Speech Therapist -> slp
• DC / Chiropractor -> chiropractor
• DDS / DMD / Dentist -> dentist
• DVM / VMD / Veterinarian -> veterinary
• RPh / PharmD / Pharmacist -> pharmacy

Fallback behavior

If an unrecognized specialty value is passed, the API will return a 400 VALIDATION_ERROR. There is no silent fallback. Always validate that you are sending a supported specialty value. Use GET /v1/specialties to fetch the current list dynamically if you want to avoid hardcoding.