I’m studying to become a physiotherapist. I’ve just begun the third year. We learn a lot about passive treatments (massage, ultrasound, laser etc). I was intern for two months in a private clinic last semester. They also used the same passive treatments a lot along with other ones like acupunture and mobilizations.
I didn’t feel like it actually helped the patients.
The last two years I’ve spent at school I don’t really feel I’ve become better at actually rehabbing injuries or helping people in pain. What resources can you recommend to learn this?
We have learnt some about pain science (the biopsykosocial model, nociception, perception, hyper vigilance etc).
Hi, thanks for the question and post! This can definitely be both a broad and deep discussion, especially related to school and continuing education. There are many sources and places to go, and my obvious bias would say to start reading our articles and listening to our podcast if you haven’t already. Beyond that, do you have any specific questions in regards to rehab and pain? From the sounds of it, you’re getting a decent amount of education and exposure to passive treatment modalities, so are you referring to learning more about exercise prescription and patient education?
As a caveat, I would say that school tends to cover a wide range over a short amount of time, so it’s unlikely you’ll reach the depth of knowledge in the specific areas of rehab you’re interested in from your schooling, but it should hopefully set you up to add/subtract to that base of knowledge over time.
Man, resources to make you a better therapist…it would certainly be easy if just “going to school” was the proper answer wouldn’t it. Unfortunately most of us would concede that is not the case. There are hundreds of resources out there and if you peruse the BBM site you will likely be exposed to many of them. The biggest resources are finding your peers and mentors who will continually challenge you and help you think through situations.
If you are looking for specific books…
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Pain explained supercharged by Moseley and Butler
People to follow
Bronnie Thompson
Ben Cormack
Researchers to pay attention to
Steve George
Joel Bialosky
There are hundreds more on all of these lists, but I would start there.
https://www.apta.org/NEXT/2016/MaleyLecture/