Dr Siff,
I thank you for the rather lengthy list of websites for gathering
information concerning the many aspects of PT. I am a second year student in
the master's program at Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles, and will use
this information for the remainder of my studies. I am sorry you have come to
the conclusion that the students who are requesting infomation are lazy and
have not "done their homework" prior to using this service to request
information.
I was introduced to this service last year by a professor...She
described it as a means to throw out ideas and seek opinions. For as you
probably are well aware, physical therapy operates in many gray areas with not
clear cut distinctions. I agree that having someone else do the research is
totally uncalled for but I feel it is unfortunate that you have grouped all
these requests together as a nuisance.
Personally I do not feel it is necessary, nor required, that a reference
list is included with the request for information in order to validate the
request. I believe that the therapists who subscribe to this service can
decide individually if they wish to answer the request. The chances are
relatively certain that the student is using additional means of research
available to him/her to complete the project, and not relying solely on this
service.
My initial reaction after reading your posting was quite disheartening.
Perhaps I was under the false impression that professionals were open to
sharing what they knew and encouraging students who are following the same
tough road. Though I have never made such a request for information, your
posting actually discouraged me from doing so in the future, for fear that my
request may be overlooked because the format wasn't in the proper paragraph
form or I didn't list enough references to prove that I have exhausted my
resources and am now worthy of submitting a request to this service.
Let us all remember that this is a free and open service for the purposes
of communicating a common topic. Why should such a structured environment be
imposed upon a casual means of speaking to therapists all over the world??
Thank you
Sheri Mitchell, B.S.
Mount St. Mary's College
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