Tag: Australia
Early Years of Physiotherapy at the University of Queensland
The first course in physiotherapy at the University of Queensland commenced in 1938. Like other programs in Australia and around the world, it was established in response to the shortage of trained masseurs to treat victims of recurrent poliomyelitis epidemics. Discussions regarding the establishment of a course had begun some …
A Profession for Middle Class Women
In 1986 Stephanie Short, a physiotherapist and sociologist, published an article in the Australian Journal of Physiotherapy titled, “Physiotherapy – A feminine profession”. Short argued that the female-dominated professions in health care are not as powerful as the male-dominated medical profession and that the key factor in shaping the discrepancies …
Sister Kenny
On the eve of the 70th anniversary of her passing we will explore the life of this Australian ‘nurse’ whose work with polio victims opened the modern-day era of rehabilitation and physiotherapy. Whilst working in outback Queensland in 1909, Kenny found that several children suffered from a disease that she …
PNF in Short
Initially termed ‘proprioceptive facilitation’ by Dr Herman Kabat in the early 1940’s, physical therapist Dorothy Voss added the word ‘neuromuscular’ to give us the now familiar Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF). Kabat’s conceptual framework for PNF came from his experience as a neurophysiologist and physician, and the works of Sister Elizabeth …
Time for Change
Fifty years ago the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) elected its first physiotherapist President. Previously the APA had always been presided over by a medical practitioner; which seemed perfectly natural when medical referrals were required for physiotherapy treatment. The 1970’s was a politically tumultuous period in Australia. After 23 years of …
The First 50 Years of the Australian College of Physiotherapy
The Australian College of Physiotherapists was established in August 1971, although the idea of a College was first suggested in 1955. The original vision was to develop a means of encouraging and recognising scholarly and original work carried out by members of the profession as there were no formal higher …
A history of physiotherapy at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia
In 1889 lectures and exams on the subject of ‘the massage battery’ were given to trainee third year nurses, who initially carried out practical work in massage and electricity in the Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) wards and outpatients department. These practices reflected the overseas work of Swedish practitioner Per Henrik …
Mobilising a Profession: Geoffrey Maitland
…Maitland’s emphasis on very careful and comprehensive examination leading to the precise application of treatment by movement and followed in turn by the assessment of the effects of that movement on the patient, form the basis for the modern clinical approach. This is probably as close to the scientific method …
How an Anglo-Indian Man Made Australian Physiotherapy Great
Australia was the first country in the world to teach and examine all aspects of physiotherapy: exercise, massage and manipulation, and electrotherapy, in programmes aligned with universities. Early physiotherapists were not nurses, and men were as numerous as women. ‘Massage’ did not fairly describe the practitioners’ real knowledge and skills, …
Australian Physios Preserving their Past
The following edited excerpts are from the article titled “Preserving our Past: Why physio history matters”. It was published in the Australian Physiotherapy Association’s (APA) InMotion Magazine on 3 February 2020 and describes the current status of physiotherapy history activities throughout Australia. The full article can be accessed here. Throughout …