This post follows a blogpost on a brief history of the 1st WCPT Congress in London in 1953. You can access this post here. Catherine Worthingham from the USA - who would later give her name to prestigious APTA Fellowships - gave a talk on Trends in physical therapy education that is worth briefly quoting from: Although physical therapy is one of the oldest forms of patient care, it is a relative newcomer to the constellation of medical and medical auxiliary professions. This fact is both a handicap and an advantage. A handicap, because recognition and appropriate support for a new field of professional effort is hard to obtain. An advantage, in that as a new profession we are not … [Read more...] about Catherine Worthington’s notes from the 1st WCPT Congress in 1953
Sharpening your critical edge – a new paper by Alison Gerlach
Alison Gerlach from the University of British Columbia in Canada has just had a paper published that challenges occupational therapists to think more critically about their work with individuals, families and groups who experience different forms of marginalization. She says about the paper "I think we need to be much more active in the international dialogue on health equity and we need to make sure that our thinking is as complex as the lives of the people that we aim to support." These are issues that are as relevant to physiotherapists as they are to OTs and the other health professions, so I thought it would be good to promote the paper here. In the spirit of sharing, Alison says that … [Read more...] about Sharpening your critical edge – a new paper by Alison Gerlach
The first congress of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy c.1953
'The beginnings of any organization are important, for on them rests the future' Mildred Elison, President of WCPT in 1953 [wpvideo FfJ8iN13] Given that the 17th WCPT congress in Singapore begins on 1 May 2015 and runs for four days, I thought it might be timely to remember the first congress and reflect on what has changed and what has stayed the same. The first WCPT Congress was held 62 years ago in London and ran from 7-12 September 1953. There were 25 countries represented at the conference, and each day focused on a different clinical theme: physical therapy in neuromuscular disorders; rheumatic diseases; diseases of the chest; rehabilitation of injured war veterans; physical … [Read more...] about The first congress of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy c.1953