Protecting Your Profession: Standing Up for Physical Therapy Is the Same Thing as Standing Up for your Patients

Education is perhaps the most powerful tool we have in our arsenal. We use it to help patients understand their condition and the importance of their treatment, but how consistent are we in educating them on our field as a sovereign entity? As a physical therapist, it is easy to forget that not everyone knows what we do or how we relate to other healthcare providers. Occasionally I get a question about our field that I think to myself "Are you kidding me? How dumb can you be?" However, after taking a step back, I realize that not everyone has the exposure to our field as those of us who actually live and breathe the profession. Below are some of the questions/interactions I have had:

"When will you go back to school to get your nursing degree and move up in the world?"

Doctor: Give them a walker.

Me: They aren't safe to use one at home. I am not prescribing one.

Doctor: Well I want them to have one. 

Me: Okay then, you prescribe it. 

Doctor: I need you to write in your note that they are safe to use it. I'm the doctor. 

Me: And I am a Doctor of PT. Now that that is cleared up, back to our issue: they are going to fall with the walker, so if you would like to be liable for the lawsuit, be my guest. 

"Aren't you just a glorified massage therapist? The doctor said all you do is massage?" 

Initially these questions made me angry as I felt personally offended, but now they make me angry because I realize that we still have a long way to educate the general public on our services. So many ailments can be treated with physical therapy and people aren't gaining access to our services simply because they don't know about them.

Not only are we not doing a good job on educating the public, but we are also not doing enough to educate other healthcare professionals on what we do. I still meet OTs that make snide comments that we "go for walks for no reason" and doctors that are shocked we can improve lung perfusion with breathing exercises as I wean patients off of supplemental oxygen. While some comments are made in jest, we should treat them as serious as intentional transgressions against our field's character. If we aggressively treat this issue, then we will be seen as a serious field and the symptom of the pain associated with poorly educated members of society with quickly diminish.

I recommend rehearsing a monologue in order to calmly respond to these prompts. Having your elevator spiel ready at a moment's notice is handy for reacting to these issues. Educating our patients, fellow healthcare workers, and society at large is our greatest weapons for managing these changes in our systems. If people knew just how beneficial and widespread our services are, there would be no question about the necessity of them. We could survive any reform or shifting care paradigm because we would be in demand like never before. It is up to use to ensure the future of our field, and education is our secret weapon.