Why do we do a national conference? other than the obvious answer- so that the fat cats who organize it get fatter- it is for exchange of ideas and knowledge transfer (KT). Sadly we never did any of that and it seems any time we are going to go there. well the national dance and stupidity is upon us- so lets do some autopsy of the pre-conference workshops.
Though it may sound like I'm criticizing again the IAP National Conference, bear with me as I share my reasons for suggesting that certain individuals should not be given a microphone. I'll outline my thoughts on the topics that, in my opinion, what should be taught.
This year we have 2 topics of the bat should be clear it is bullshit. Electromagnetic bull shit and functional neuroceptive batshit. If you have functioning grey cells you will understand they are complete pseudoscience. It seems slapping the term "functional" on any old malarkey is the latest trend to make hogwash sound like cutting-edge science. Take, for instance, the classic case of "functional nutrition" – a perfect blend of sophistication and baloney.
The remaining subjects fall into the category of run-of-the-mill physical therapy concepts that we typically encounter during our undergrad studies. My concern, however, is not merely for learners to acquire these as practical skills – tasks better suited for college and subsequent months of specialized training – but rather to grasp them as a science. It's not enough to execute a technique; one must comprehend the underlying reasons for its efficacy, understand its limitations, identify potential risks, and critically assess the supporting evidence. By the way what the hell is spinal disorders- just sad state of our experts.
What should be taught or discussed:
As previously mentioned, prioritizing knowledge transfer and comprehending emerging scientific developments should be our primary focus. It is imperative to move away from didactic approaches and instead welcome uncertainty when educating on physical therapy methods such as manual therapy and pain science. etc.
As we know, we evidence keep on accumulating and we hardly transfer that to practice. We know, world over, PT practice is not remotely evidence based. We can’t change the world in a day, but national conferences need to work towards that.
These are some of the examples:
what is the best available evidence for stroke, how to implement it in your practice.
What is the best available evidence teaches about management of children with CP? (clue it is not NDT)
What is pain education and why it is important
Workshops focusing on essential skills such as evidence-based medicine, statistics, and effective search strategies remain crucial.
some topics in emerging science:
how to make patients comply with treatment (exercises)
behavioural science and its application in stroke, pain science and much more
Neurobiology of motor behaviour, reward systems, pain
and more
biases and critical thinking
Sadly no one wants to teach these important subjects but useless things like rubbing on magical point or moving joints which can’t be. Pseudoscience tends to be appealing to those with limited education, particularly within the physical therapy community. Although it may be challenging to entirely eliminate the spread of pseudoscientific teachings, it is essential to discourage their promotion, particularly within our prominent national conferences.
I know, i will get messages saying, i agree what can we do. Well, i think we can all agree we can discourage our friends, students not to attend these stupidity. We can also teach the above mentioned in our classroom, in our college conference and webinars. change starts with “I”.
Hopefully these morons lose the election next time and we get good people to teach PT not some white guy on fucking electrotherapy or fascia manipulation.
How bold, beautiful and brilliant....