Huh! I thought we came from reconstruction aids

I read with great interest a post from Medinnovation Blog (on my feedemon reader) On Physical Therapists and Keeping Patients Moving which highlighted Dr. Duvall and the great work that he and his colleagues are doing in Atlanta.

I should have stopped there.

BUT, unfortunately I read the comments where I learned that physiatrists invented physical therapy and that they are responsible for our training.

I am getting real sick right now.  Too sick to post the facts to their comments.

 

Larry

Comments

[Larry Benz]

http://medinnovationblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/on-physiatrists-and-wiping-egg-off-my.html

Further revision of history. Thank goodness a patient never mistook me for a physiatrist.

[Diane]

"The Business of Ethics: Gender, Medicine, and the Professional Codification of the American Physiotherapy Association" by Beth Linker

This is the history of PT (in the U.S.) by an historian. I'd link it here if I could figure out how.

[Jason Silvernail]

If someone well spoken doesn't post something soon, then I won't be able to restrain myself from correcting the nauseating disrespect for our profession being shown in the comments.

Oh well, off to find those "specific" PT orders from my local physiatrist...
what a joke.

J

[James Glinn Jr]

From APTA.org

Physical Therapy- A Historical Perspective

Physical therapists formed their first professional association in 1921, called the American Women's Physical Therapeutic Association. Led by President Mary McMillan, an executive committee of elected officers governed the Association, which included 274 charter members. By the end of the 1930s, the Association changed its name to the American Physiotherapy Association. Men were admitted, and membership grew to just under 1,000.

Mary McMillan, shown wearing her Reconstruction Aide uniform.

With the advent of World War II and a nationwide polio epidemic during the 1940s and 1950s, physical therapists were in greater demand than ever before. The Association's membership swelled to 8,000, and the number of physical therapy education programs across the US increased from 16 to 39.

Reconstruction Aides treat soldiers at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, in 1919.

Physical therapists and physicians work together to treat children at a New England poliomyelitis clinic in 1916.

By the late 1940s, the Association had changed its name to the American Physical Therapy Association, hired a full-time staff, and opened its first office in New York City. A House of Delegates representing chapter members was established to set APTA policies. The House elected a Board of Directors, previously the Executive Committee, to manage the Association. In addition, Sections were created to promote and develop specific objectives of the profession. The first two Sections were the School and Private Practice sections.

A physical therapist uses pool therapy to treat a child with poliomyelitis.

In the 1960s, APTA membership reached almost 15,000, and the number of education programs nationwide grew to 52. Now headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, APTA represents more than 75,000 members throughout the United States. A national professional organization, APTA's goal is to foster advancements in physical therapy practice, research, and education. Currently 180 institutions offer physical therapy education programs and 236 institutions offer physical therapist assistant education programs in the United States.

A physical therapist performs mobilization exercises using the quadrant position in the treatment of a patient with adhesive capsulitis.

For more information on the American Physical Therapy Association, contact APTA Public Relations, 1111 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, VA, 22314-1488; e-mail:public-relations@apta.org. Or telephone the Public Relations Department at 703/706-3248.

From physiatry.org:

Physiatry did not become recognized as a separate medical specialty until 1947. Most widely known as the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the medical specialty of modern-day Physiatry comprises the related disciplines of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation Medicine and Electromyography.

[Eric Robertson]

I posted a commentary about this with links to historical sites on my blog...I tried to be very diplomatic. I'm off to post the same in the comments of medinnovationblog.

Check it out: http://npawellness.blogspot.com/

[Steve Jorgensen]

Thanks for taking the time to do this, Eric. A strangely self-serving response from those physiatrists. Perhaps if they really want to increase their public profile, they could do so in a manner that does not mis-represent the development of physical therapy, and attempt to establish a hierarchical relationship with them at the top of the ladder and we the "lab technicians" to their "pathologists" (now that comment REALLY deserves a rebuttal).

Steve

[Kevin]

Can someone explain this "muscle activation technique"? I have researched this online and found an interesting quote on their website:
"Muscle Activation Techniques(MAT) is not Physical Therapy! Physical therapy includes procedures such as therapeutic exercises, and the application of electro-physical modalities. These are valuable procedures, but they do not address or resolve the underlying problems caused by muscular imbalances." When do we as PTs not address muscular imbalances? Is that not what our profession is based upon? It makes me frustrated that we have struggled to achieve direct access, but there are PERSONAL TRAINERS who are doing this hands-on technique with their "patients".