OBJECTIVE: The Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy of the American Physical Therapy Association's clinical practice guideline recommendations provide a foundation for clinicians' musculoskeletal care. Some patients’ presenting clinical findings suggest conditions that would benefit from medical or surgical evaluation and management. Guidelines are not available that direct this referral. DESIGN: This practice description directs the development of guidelines for clinicians working as first provider musculoskeletal practitioners on the diagnostic criteria for referring clients for medical or surgical management. METHODS: The foundational step in developing these guidelines is to identify the conditions that first provider musculoskeletal practitioners are likely to encounter during clinical practice. This study used standard practice analysis methodology to identify and describe these conditions. RESULTS/CONCLUSION: The ensuing clinical practice guideline, based on systematic methods to evaluate and classify evidence, will provide graded recommendations on the criteria to identify, level of confidence with identifying, and urgency for referring patients, with the conditions described in this practice analysis, for medical and surgical evaluation and management.