Evidence-Based Training for Physical Therapists

Life can change in a split second when an unanticipated injury or disease hinders someone’s normal daily life. Modern medicine, physicians and families can only do so much but physical therapy can help recoup the life many of us take for granted. It often isn’t until we lose something that we as humans realize what we had such as the value of our body’s ability to take us through each day. A physical therapist is the person who stays with a patient for the duration of the rehabilitation process. A physical therapist leads the patient through the process of regaining physical strength and helps the patient regain control of their future. Much like many careers that involve interaction with individuals, physical therapy reaches beyond

The article that I chose was published by Mayo Clinic School of Health Science, the title of the article is “Physical Therapy”. The article informs the reader on the roles, goals, as well as the overall definition of a physical therapist. According to the article, “Physical therapists (PTs) work with patients who have impairments, limitations, disabilities, or changes in physical function and health status resulting from injury, disease or other causes.” Therefore, a physical therapist works directly with the population that has a form of impairment in their movement, whether it is from an injury or an illness. The roles of a physical therapist are examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis

I believe impacting the lives of other people positively in the society is a great achievement. As a physical therapist in future, I will leave an impression by helping patients to obtain maximum health care through rehabilitation. Furnished with knowledge from a program of physical therapy specialist, I will help patients to manage pain, improve their movement, limit or prevent permanent disabilities and restore functioning (Porter and Teisberg, 2006). My aim is to offer high quality care that will eventually help patients to promote their health and fitness through active

Slutsky, J. (2005). Using evidence-based guidelines: Tools for improving practice. In B. F.-O. Melnyk, Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare. A guide to best practice (pp. 221-236). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

The day-to-day writing in the field of Physical Therapy varies depending on the audience. The audience determines the purpose of the writing and writing style. Physical Therapists (PT) use evidence-based exercises and activities to rehabilitate their patients in order for them to reach their unique goal. Since PT’s work with both medical professionals and patients, they must adjust their writing to be able to communicate effectively. PT’s are just one of the many people in the medical field that may work with a particular patient so it is important that the communication between the different layers of the medical field are precise and clear. Writing to a patient is also important because they are the person who is being directly affected

I believe that my personal and professional growth and behavior as a physical therapist is of utmost importance. I base this firstly on my strong connection to those in society who are disadvantaged when it comes to physical therapy, and also on the movement system, movement being “the key to optimal living and quality of life for all people that extends beyond health to every person’s ability to participate in and contribute to society” (American Physical Therapy Association, 2013). This perspective, I believe, is aligned perfectly with the vision statement for the physical therapy profession – to transform society through optimization of movement to improve the human experience (APTA, 2013). After reviewing the vision statement, I strongly believe it will act as my guide by strengthening compassion, reinforcing advocacy, improving quality of service, and strengthening cohesion.

As a PTA I have been given a breath of knowledge in regard to the profession of physical therapy. However, I am not satisfied with this breath of knowledge. I yearn for the opportunity to gain a further understanding in terms of “how and why” physical therapy is successful at restoring function to individuals seeking

Evidence based practice is the incorporation of individual clinical expertise with best research evidence and patient values and expectations. Health care decision of individual patients should be based on best available research evidence. A health decision made from a sound research evidence has the potential to ensure best practice and reduce variations in health care delivery. In health science, an ever increasing plethora of studies being published and is challenging for clinicians to keep up with the literature. Integrating research into practice is time consuming and need methods for easy access to such evidences for busy clinicians. Indeed, clinical decision should be based on the latest research evidence. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses summarize the research evidence, which is generally the best form of evidence, thereby making the available evidence more accessible to decision makers and are positioned

Using evidence-based practice in daily patient care may seem like a time-consuming process, but in reality it is not. It should come as a natural process once incorporated into your daily routine. The process (as cited in Houser, 2013) involves six elements: (1) Ask a relevant clinical question, (2) search for the best evidence in the literature, (3) critically appraise the evidence, (4) integrate the evidence with clinical experience and client preferences, (5) evaluate the outcome of the practice change, and (6) disseminate the

It would seem a foregone conclusion that effective clinical practice is based on the best possible, rigorously tested evidence because the public assumes it, patients expect it and practitioners profess to value it. Yet the emphasis on evidence as a basis of clinical practice reached the forefront of health care only in the last two decades. The past decade has seen unprecedented advances in information technology, making research and other types of evidence widely available to healthcare practitioners. Technology has supported the rapid communication of best practice and afforded consumers open access to healthcare information as well. As a result, Evidence Based Practice (EBP) is quickly becoming the norm for effective clinical practice.

Evidence based practice, EBP, is a phrase often heard by the occupational therapy, OT, student and is commonly used at the professional level as well. The term is frequently referenced by professors and textbooks, and can even be found in the American Occupational Therapy Association (2006) Centennial Vision Statement as a defining characteristic of the profession. With such an emphasis placed upon it, it is helpful to understand what is meant by the phrase evidence-based practice, why it is considered important to the profession, barriers to practicing it, and how to incorporate it in future practice.

A lot of physiotherapists have restrictions in accessing high level evidence (as there is limited access to databases of clinical trials archives and reviews or even lack of awareness of these databases), which made them believe that there is no much evidences about physiotherapy interventions (Bithell 2000). There is a study which, found variations between disciplines’ use of online evidence and identified ease of access and time taken to locate the online evidence as barriers to evidence-based practice after interviewing Australian health professionals including some physiotherapists (Gosling et al. 2003).

When physical therapy or physiotherapy was chosen as the keyword, research studies of exercise appeared. I felt as if the researchers believe that physical therapy only encompasses exercise. We as a profession work in diverse specialties and use numerous treatment methods. Maher et al.(2004) states that there are publication biases in the research community. Registries that choose what studies are published prefer large studies, ones that show significant effects and those that have positive outcomes. Unfortunately, this can sway the public to believe that a certain outcome is invalid not because it is false but because a study was not “chosen” to be

Evidence-based practice (EBP) offers a framework utilization of systematic high-quality research, an analysis which consistently enhances measurable client outcome and clinical decision-making grounded in rationality; EBP depends on data collected through experimental research and accounts for individual client characteristics and clinician expertise. The potential benefits of EBP comprise of increased service delivery and quality of care, heightened accountability, and a bridging of the research-practice gap (Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg, & Haynes, 2000). It is imperative that research scholars are cognizant of research outcome dependability and validity prior to implementing results

Excellence: Excellence is a key component behind the practice of evidence-based care in the profession of physical therapy. As a doctoring profession that utilizes high levels of research, the knowledge invested into care will lead to well-constructed successful outcomes. Physical therapy will continue to expand and excel in the quality of patient centered care. I’ve worked hard to meet goals throughout my undergraduate education and will continue to meet higher standards as a graduate student. As a future professional, I will aim far beyond what is necessary to meet basic requirements, and continually pursue growth.