Shared Decision Making for Musculoskeletal Disorders: Help or Hype?
By Chad E Cook PT, PhD, FAPTA; Yannick Tousignant-Laflamme PT, PhD Background In 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed with a goal to expand access to insurance, increase consumer protections, emphasize prevention and wellness, improve quality and system performance, expand the health workforce, and curb rising health care costs [1]. Principle to the […]
It’s the Dose, Stupid
By: Seth Peterson, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT The Motive Physical Therapy Specialists Oro Valley, AZ We learn from our failures more than our success. In other times, we learn from our “almost failures.” These close-calls are the best events to learn from, really, because they can carry almost the same weight as a failure without […]
Compared to What?
By: Chad Cook PT, PhD, FAPTA Physical therapists commonly compare two or more things to one another. For example, I’ve frequently heard the comparison of the diagnostic accuracy of one test to another, when defending or rejecting the use of a special test. I’ve also heard the reporting that one intervention is more effective compared […]
Manual Therapy for Shoulder Pain: Trick or Treat(ment)?
By: Dr Angela Cadogan, PhD, NZRPS, Specialist Physiotherapist (MSK) Musculoskeletal physiotherapists have a therapeutic ‘bag of tricks’ that includes a range of interventions such as advice, pain science education, acupuncture, exercise and manual therapy to name a few. What turns a ‘trick’ into an effective ‘treatment’ is its application within a biopsychosocial framework, guided by […]
I Hate Systematic Reviews
Chad E Cook PT, PhD, FAPTA Preface I have grown to despise systematic reviews/meta-analyses. I do not like writing them, I do not enjoy reading them (any more than I enjoy reading an instructional manual), and I especially hate explaining to people why they have so many limitations. I feel lazy and uninspired when […]
Are Diagnostic Paradigms Based on Scientific Thought and Procedure?
By: Sean P. Riley, PT, DPT, ScD In an editorial titled “Science or Cult?” published in PTJ in 1963, Hislop stated, “Observations are the principal data of clinical science. Sometimes observations are inaccurate and faulty. Inferences and concepts can arise from such observations which also may be indefinite and confused. For persons not well grounded […]
Zoom In: Is It Time to Review How We Teach Manual Therapy?
Dr Kesava Kovanur Sampath, PhD, M.Ost, BPT Learners of manual therapy (MT) are required to develop complex hands-on clinical skills underpinned by clinical reasoning, manual/physical assessments and palpation [1]. While much of focus in MT has been either on its effectiveness and/or mechanisms, not much attention has been given to how MT is being taught. […]
Thorough Research Questions should have Layers
By: Chad E Cook PT, PhD, FAPTA Order Questions Most of our musculoskeletal treatments fall within a ‘gray zone’ of effectiveness1. Nearly none of our treatments are strongly effective all of the time and few have no benefit all of the time. This is one of the reasons we see outcomes that are consistently similar […]
The Hip Barely Moves During Joint Mobilization: What does that mean for clinicians?
Seth Peterson, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT In a popular video, a clinician demonstrates the vacuum phenomenon of the hip joint in a cadaver, moving the femoral head around to create suction and then pulling (clearly very hard) to demonstrate how strong that suction force can be. It prompts the question – if someone can apply […]
The Truth? Whose Truth?
By: Chad E Cook PT, PhD, FAPTA; Sean P. Riley, PT, DPT, ScD The Truth? Whose Truth? Our impetus for writing this blog is our disappointment with modern United States news media outlets, how they report information, and how it impacts the public. Their extremist style of reporting has led to a division of thought […]
