Tag: UK
Dr Koch’s Emasculation and the Birth of Physiotherapy
The formation of the Society of Trained Masseuses (STM) by four British nurses in 1894 is often opined as the beginning of the physiotherapy profession (Ottoson, 2015). In support, physiotherapy historian and critical thinker Dave …
On the Origins of Netball
The international game of netball can trace its popularity and codification to a unique college of Swedish gymnastics in the United Kingdom at the turn of the nineteenth century. The all-female college was also at …
Rosalind Paget: An Historical Overview and Appreciation, Part 2
Rosalind Paget was one of the original four founders of the Society of Trained Masseuses which later became the Incorporated Society of Trained Masseuses, in 1920 the Chartered Society of Massage and Medical Gymnastics and …
Rosalind Paget: An Historical Overview and Appreciation, Part 1
Rosalind Paget was one of the original four founders of the Society of Trained Masseuses which later became the Incorporated Society of Trained Masseuses, in 1920 the Chartered Society of Massage and Medical Gymnastics, and …
Angel of Summerdown: Physiotherapy’s Forgotten Benefactor
This story begins with the unusually named Almeric Paget Massage Corps. Located in the United Kingdom, the Corps was formed to serve in the First World War. It was the forerunner of physiotherapy services for …
The Birth of Women’s Health
In 1912, Dr John Shields Fairbairn, a leading consultant obstetrician at St Thomas Maternity Hospital, London, commenced a program to revolutionise the medical approach to child delivery. He aimed to replace the 19th century medical …
The Value of Physical Treatment
The following Letter to the Editor, published in The Lancet in 1918 provides an extraordinary review of the growth of physiotherapy from the First World War. SIR,—The Prime Minister in his speech on Nov. 16th, …
Paralympic History
On the eve of the Paralympics Games Paris 2024 where more than 4,000 athletes, representing 169 nations, will compete over twelve days for 549 medals across 22 events it is instructing to consider its humble …
Guy’s Hospital School of Physiotherapy, London
An Overview of the Origins and History 1888 to1992 During the early to mid-1970s I was privileged to work as a member of the physiotherapy staff at Guy’s Hospital London. Guy’s was founded in 1726 …