This study was conducted to identify challenges experienced by chief physical therapists newly appointed as line managers and the support they require. The study included 15 chief physical therapists who had been promoted to the position in the preceding 4 years and were working at the physical therapy department of JA Shizuoka Kouseiren-affiliated hospitals. A mail-based survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of 7 domains. In the “worries” domain, the most common answers were “It is difficult to carry out performance evaluations of subordinates”, “I don’t know what I need to learn as chief physical therapist”, “There is too much work to do”, and “The expected achievements of chief therapists are unclear”. Regarding learning opportunities, “In-house training programs provided by the workplace (including organizations and hospitals)” was most frequently chosen, with 93.3％ of the respondents expressing a desire for a phased continuous education system focused on management/administration at their workplaces. The challenges experienced by newly appointed chief physical therapists identified in this survey included ambiguity of role sharing, heavy workload, and psychological conflict. The survey results also suggest the need for immediate response programs and support systems to promptly address problems and ensure smooth management operations.