The Three Musketeers Of Physical Therapy

The storyline started a few weeks ago as a simple tweet: physical therapists "are highly educated, doctorate level professionals". Sounds reasonable enough, yes?

However, last time I looked, I am a physical therapist - a highly educated health care professional with 25 years of clinical experience and one of about 350 clinicians in the world with the highest level of training in Mechanical Diagnosis And Therapy. But I am not a doctor.

I replied with a simple "And what are the non-doctorates?". I will admit, I was curious to see what the response would be. Deafening silence awaited me.

It was the Three Musketeers that said "Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno", or "All for one, and one for all".

The physical therapy profession would do well to take notes.

As innocuous as it may have sounded at first, the aforementioned tweet represents a growing trend that can be found in our daily world and in social media. The physical therapy profession has unwittingly - in its desire to "move forward" - drawn a line in the sand for many clinicians. It can be found in the language: the subtle and not-so-subtle undertones. How about just one of many real world examples:

"Life will be better when all of the non-DPTs finally retire so that the profession can grow and move forward".

Ouch. Not so subtle, indeed.

Before I go any further - if you are waiting for me - or other non-DPT physical therapists like me - to retire so that you can "move the profession forward", then I have a little surprise for you. We're not going anywhere any time soon. Taking ownership of this profession will require more than just your doctorate degree.

Lest ye hath forgotten, we are the clinical instructors that mentor you through your internships - without a doctorate. We are the clinicians that have laid the foundation for direct access to physical therapy - without a doctorate. We are the clinicians that provide the much-needed clinical experience to understand which questions need to be asked in your research study - without a doctorate. We are the clinicians that are brought in to teach as adjunct faculty or guest lecturers because we know what the clinical world looks like - without a doctorate.

Well, at least I am in good company. Maitland and McKenzie, among a vast array of clinicians, would be thrown aside as well. They made astute clinical observations and developed assessment tools - without a doctorate.

We cannot, as a profession, let this continue to create a caste system amongst its practitioners. We cannot continue to base our identity around a degree. We cannot continue to promote the use of language within the profession that screams that "all PTs are NOT created equal". As it stands, we have little to no evidence that we are any further ahead as a profession in the year 2013 than we were in 2000, or in 1990 when I moved to Texas and the entry level degree was a Bachelors.

After 25 years of clinical practice, and working alongside a broad variety of clinical professions, I can tell you that there are good and bad to be found in every field. There will always be good and bad PTs as well - be they Bachelors-, Masters-, or Doctorate-trained. None of them have exclusive ownership to lousy physical therapists.

All For One, And One For All: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis - the "Three Musketeers" - had it right. They stayed loyal to one another through thick and thin. Physical therapists – Bachelors-, Masters-, and Doctorate-trained - should stand together as one to embrace the ideals and goals of our profession. We should be inclusive and embrace clinical excellence as our brand, promote consumer advocacy, and thrive as practitioners of choice - independent of entry level degree. That involves an awareness of the potentially divisive language from within that is used in describing our profession.

We must come together in the battles in order to win the war.

I stand here as an advocate for education, clinical excellence, and a physical therapist's role in the health and health care continuum. But with that said, our professional identity is far more important than a degree. We are highly trained professionals that could truly revolutionize patient-centered health - and it should be left at that.

All for one, and one for all. The Three Musketeers wouldn't have it any other way. Physical therapists shouldn't either.

Photo credits: vaRiax_