Disrespect

The profession of Physical Therapy is not as respected or understood as the profession of medical doctors. A recent ad taken out by the New York state society of orthopaedic surgeons states that "PT's aren't trained to make a medical diagnosis or recognize many potentially life-threatening conditions beyond their limited expertise." This is an attempt to keep Direct Access out of New York State. For those that don't know, Direct Access is the ability of a patient to go directly to a Physical Therapist for a condition such as a sprained ankle or whatever the patient deems appropriate for the therapist to treat. As PT's we are taught when to refer to the appropriate source outside of ourselves such as a hand therapist or medical doctor. FYI 41 out of 50 states in the US have Direct Access with no greater incidence of malpractice. I think it is fair to say the orhtopaedic surgeons are a bit concerned about losing money that PT's could possibly take away from them if the current bill for Direct Access gets passed.

I am only in my first year of three as a StudentPT and we have already received training in spotting "red flags" that can be signs of cancer and other diseases. I refuse to accept these professionals accusations, however there is very little I can do short of sending in some money to counter their ad. But perhaps one individual reading this will be better informed and gain a little bit of respect for my profession. As a "doctoring" profession, we Physical Therapists are capable of recognizing life-threatening conditions, our careers depend on it and we care enough about our patients to use everything we are taught and then some.

NY needs Direct Access, help make it happen in any way you can.

...Congrats to Massey on everything...