PT Talker Interview: The Role Of A Physical Therapist

Jeff Worrell of Advantage Medical has created an intriguing website entitled “PT Talker”. The site focuses on business news and ideas for therapists by presenting podcast interviews with clinicians.

A number of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to participate in an interview with Jeff for his site. The interview, in its entirety, was posted late last week. The title of the podcast is “Mentor, Motivator, Educator, And Healer – The Role Of A Physical Therapist”. The interview can be found here.

As readers of this blog will know, my approach to health and health care is very client- and patient-focused. When speaking of the role of the physical therapist, our profession is at a significant crossroads. The future of health care – and the physical therapy profession specifically – lies in the first three terms: Mentor, Motivator, and Educator. It is the last word - healer – that proves troublesome.

Physical therapists have a great opportunity to become health mentors and to motivate and educate clients. But many clinicians went into the field thinking that their role is as a fixer, a healer, or a guru. Many were taught that in school. Many developed those beliefs over time.

With this said, our profession as a whole needs a re-branding. The era of physical therapists as fixers and healers needs to come to an end. Our long-term role in an effective system of health is best served as health mentors and educators, guides and problem solvers. But in order to take on this role, the profession needs to do a self-assessment on its self-image. I will post more on this concept in upcoming articles.

I hope you enjoy the interview, and explore many more of Jeff’s fascinating podcasts. Many thanks to Jeff for providing me with the opportunity to share my thoughts with his followers.

Photo credits: OCV PHOTO