On the 8th September 1951, delegates representing seventeen national physiotherapy associations met in Copenhagen, Denmark to establish the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT); now World Physiotherapy. Seventy-five years later it represents more than 600,000 physiotherapists through 129 member organisations, …
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of World Physiotherapy (formerly the World Confederation for Physical Therapy – WCPT) on 8 September 2026, we’ve created a special 75-question challenge to put your knowledge of the profession to the test. Their are 5 …
On the 1st of January 1973, Jean Blair was appointed Associate Professor by the Council of the University of the Witwatersrand. She was awarded the honour, in the words of the Vice-Chancellor, “..on the grounds of her long and meritorious …
Vibration has been, and is still, used widely across physiotherapy. The speed of the vibration offers differing therapeutic benefits that can be targeted toward specific health conditions. Slow rhythmical rocking, via horseback (hippotherapy) or being sat upon a top loading …
The proceedings of the 3rd international seminar of the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapy make for fascinating reading. Just over 40 years ago now, the meeting held in Vail, Colorado from May 30th to …
Last year we began work on the first ever special issue Physiotherapy Theory and Practice dedicated to the history of physiotherapy, and today the project moved a step closer. All eight draft papers were sent …
Those of you older than, say, 50, should have no trouble identifying these. So do you know what they are and what we did with them?
In De Arte Gymnastica, written in 1569, Hieronymus Mercurialis describes six exercise principles: Each exercise should preserve the existing health state Exercises should be suited to each part of the body All healthy people should …
IPHA member Cameron MacDonald, along with Peter Osmothely, Robert Parkes and Darren Rivett have recently published an article in the Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy looking at the ongoing debate around the regulation of …
Most physiotherapists will have memories of learning about electrotherapy. Perhaps you learned from Clayton’s Electrotherapy and Actinotherapyabout sinusoidal currents and short-wave diathermy. And perhaps you still have waking nightmares about induction coils? Or perhaps, if …
We had a really lovely post-WCPT meeting of the whole IPHA membership this week. You can find links to the agenda and audio recording here. There were some decisions made at the meeting that will …
Physiotherapy has a long history with light therapy. Throughout much of the 20th century, light therapies were an integral part of the therapists toolkit. And actinotherapy – or the therapeutic use of artificial non-ionising radiations, …
We are well accustomed to photographs of World War I physiotherapy wards. Busy rooms, filled with rehabilitating soldiers offer a glimpse into a past world and the beginnings of a new profession. In contrast, a painting …
A giant has died, the likes of which we will see no more. He was the right man at the right time. Physical Therapy had not yet become a profession when in the 1950’s Freddy …
