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Episodes
The fallacy of n-of-1 thinking. How it limits your ability to improve as a clinician, and what to do instead.
Physical therapists love to report the wonderful results they have achieved with their patients. And rightly so. Singular cases stand out. The clinician is happy, the patient is happy, and sharing success with...
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Psychopathology and treatment effect interference, PART 2: Are we all now psychotherapists?
Psychological factors are always and irrevocably present in any clinician interaction with patients. They can be a help or a hinderance. In PART 1 of this series I spoke about common distortions of thinking that can...
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Psychology and treatment effect interference, PART 1: It's you, not me ... and other tales of woe.
Psychological factors are always and irrevocably present in any clinician interaction with patients. They can be a help or a hinderance. When problematic, they can negatively interfere with intended treatment effects....
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What to do when your patient is lying to you? A perspective.
Not everyone lies, but patients lie more than we might expect. And weâre not good at detecting it. So, what is one to do, as a healthcare provider, when faced with this reality? Afterall, lies and failure to disclose...
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Delivering what patients need vs. what they say they want. Does it matter? Points to consider when framing your discussion and choices with patients.
Patients come to us for a variety of reasons, not all of which are centered on a musculoskeletal complaint, or even necessarily centered on regaining full function. This confounds some healthcare providers, and it can...
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How can we learn from clinical practice? Clinical research. Notes from the road less traveled.
What we know in practice is built upon our formal education, what we read of the scientific literature, what we glean from continuing education and professional development resources, and our participation in...
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One of the hard questions in physical therapy. A perspective.
An enduring and hard question in the world of physical therapy is: How long should beneficial therapeutic treatment effects last? This is a deceptively simple question. With many different patient presentations,...
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Are new graduates ready for independent practice? The 50/50 rule.
Orienting oneself to the early career demands of treatment design in clinical practice can be an uncertain and daunting task for new graduates. This is made more challenging by lack of appropriate guidance during...
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PT Students Cure Chronic Shoulder Pain Complaints in 8 Patients, Present Findings, and Get Grilled for What They Did Not Do
As professionals, how do we know what to do for any given patient problem? We of course are educated in physical therapy schools, experience increasing responsibility as interns, pass many tests, including licensure...
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Researchers implore us to measure forces used in rehabilitation, so why don't we? A clash of culture vs. science, and what this means for evidence-based practice.
Do you measure your patient's ability to produce or manage forces? Why or why not?
Ours is a profession of movement-oriented focus, and yet it often lacks investigation of basic concepts vital to movement, i.e. the...
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Chronic Recurrent Foot Pain, Surgery to Remove a Bone, Systems of Thought, and How Not to Overlook the Obvious
A man with over 2-decades of complaints related to an old traumatic ankle injury as a consequence of a motorcycle crash now faces a critical decision: surgery or no surgery to fix his problem? Except that it might not...
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The 5% Rule and Chronic Conditions
Patients with chronic musculoskeletal conditions are often thought of as resistant to treatment. This is true for both conservative and non-conservative treatments, including pharmacological interventions. In settings...
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