I agree, keeping things simple but the issue I raised is from
public point of view and not
physiotherapists' . I understand that some of our
collegues do not care about professional title... just call me
"Andrew" / call me "Linda" and I respect that. However, the
professional title can do much more that we ever imagine . If you
are interested to find out how powerful it may be, I refer you to Dr. Alain Y.
Belanger dialogue: The Culture of Professional Title in
Physiotherapy: WHY SHOULD WE CARE? Physiotherapy
Canada/Winter 1997:14-15.
Salim Al-Harthy, PT
----Original Message Follows----
From: "RIDDELL, David" <
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Reply-To: - for physiotherapists in education and practice
<
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To:
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Subject: Re: DPT
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2001 16:49:01 +0100
Why not keep it simple? - until you get a Ph.D you are not a doctor
thereafter if you want to call yourself Dr. - "Good Luck"!
dave riddell
-----Original Message-----
From: Salem Al-harthy [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 08 August 2001 15:11
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: DPT
Hi All,
Thanks all for your comments. It has been interesting discussion
and I
respect everyone's opinion. However, I wonder how would the
public/patients
(our main consumers)/employers impression be on "doctors" of
physical
therapy and "ordinary" physical therapists. Would'nt that cause
some sort of
confusion?
Salim Al-Harthy, PT
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Douglas M. White"
Reply-To: - for physiotherapists in education and practice
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: DPT
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2001 08:42:07 -0400
Geoff:
Thanks for your comments. Please see below.
| Dear group,
| I have long been disappointed in the academic push for entry
level PT
| programs to adopt higher degree designations. This does not come
from any
| deep rooted envy or resentment for those who graduate with higher
degrees
| than mine. It comes more from sympathy for my profession and our
| clientelle.
| We continue to grow in the public's eyes through increased media
exposure
| and increased numbers of those who come to us for treatment. What
many of
| us see as an essential advancement of our profession, they see as
mundane
| and superfluous.
Have you ever added up the credits for the BS PT programs and
compared those
credits with other BS degrees? I know the credits for my BS degree
should
have gotten me very close to a MS degree. That is the "official"
credits.
Many of my courses did not offer the full number of credits the
course
deserved.
Are our patients, other health care providers, and
| physicians going to see us in any different of a light merely
because we
| have a different set of letters after our name?
Yes. The title society uses for an autonomous health care
practitioner is
Doctor. While many of us currently practice autonomously that level
of
practice is not recognized readily by society. The DPT should go a
long way
to change that perception.
Speech language
| pathologists have (as far as I know) always been at a Masters
level of
| education. Yet do we see them as any higher a level of expertise
in their
| field than the occupational and physical therapists who graduated
in years
| not-so-distant past with Bachelor's degrees? Of course not.
Comparing entry level education over a span of many years is dicey.
The same
can be said for MDs, DPM, PharmD, AudD etc.
| Not even physicians claim a doctorate level of education upon
exit from
| medical school.
Please explain. My understanding is MDs are awarded a clinical
doctoral
degree.
Do we see the medical profession pushing for a "D.M.D."
| (although there are some research based PhD MD programs out
there)? Not
| hardly. They don't need to. They have secured respect throughout
society
| as being at a high level of expertise in their field without
bigger and
| bolder designations.
This statement seems to be a contradiction. The Doctor title is the
highest
title in society for a profession. The MD is the biggest and
boldest
designation.
| Claiming a higher entry level education than what we rightly
deserve is
| not only petty, it's dangerous.
By what analysis do you make this statement?
Entry level programs (at least in the
| states) do not carry the intensity and development of clinical
skills
| necessary to allow new grads to advertise themselves as those who
are
| somehow more knowledgable and better able to treat patients than
those who
| graduated from "lesser" programs.
Legally and professionally once you enter a profession you have
earned the
rights and privileges associated with that profession. No
profession, to my
knowledge, has ever advanced its education and status without
"grandfathering" the people in the profession the continued right
to
practice.
The level and type of education that quality DPT programs are doing
now far
exceeds my BSPT education. It has been my professional
responsibility to
continue to stay current with appropriate practice in 2001 and
beyond.
| Most entry level Master's programs were nothing more than
revamped
| Bachelor's programs set at a graduate level. While I agree more
coursework
| and preparation is necessary in entry level education, let's not
kid
| ourselves that a higher degree designation is warranted because
of it.
See above. Degree granting institutions have a responsibility to
award
degrees consistant with the credits earned.
| The push for entry level DPT's will negatively impact our
profession in
| the following ways:
| 1. It thrusts inexperienced therapists into a position of
potentially
| greater responsibility and authority than what they are equipped
to
handle.
This is not the case. The scope of practice is the same, DPT or
not.
| 2. It adds to the already astronomical escalation in educational
costs,
| which are not offset by increased wage earnings upon graduation.
I don't see how a DPT after a BS would be more costly than a MS
after a BS.
I have not done an analysis. If you have I'd be interested in what
you
found.
| 3. It cheapens our profession by belittling those therapists that
have
| spent many years perfecting their clinical skills at a Bachelor's
or
| Master's level and who are not able or not interested in pursuing
higher
| degrees.
I disagree. As noted above we all have a responsibility to stay
current. If
we choose to do this by pursuing a tDPT fine. There are a myriad of
other
ways of staying current. No matter what way you choose you will
have to put
the time and resources into professional development.
| 4. It cheapens our profession by undermining the efforts of those
who do
| sweat and toil to attain higher levels of education post
professionally.
| Those who have achieved post professional Masters and Doctorates
deserve
to
| be distinguished above others in our profession as reward for
their
| perseverence and hard work.
I don't understand this point. I don't see how the DPT takes away
from other
post professional degrees.
| I agree with Patrick that the road to better therapists is not
through
| higher entry level degrees but through post graduate residency
programs.
We
| already have a burgeoning of orthopedic residencies in the US,
CAPTE needs
| to capitalize on this and concentrate on building better
specialists in
our
| profession.
I agree with residencies however it is a separate and distinct
issue from
DPT.
| You would never let a general practitioner perform open heart
surgery on
| your mother, why would you send her to therapy for her back with
a PT who
| has had no advanced training in orthopedics? Entry level
therapists need
| specialty training in the field they choose to go into, not
higher
degrees.
|
| Warm Regards,
| Geoff Mosley, PT, NCS
| MRC
| Mt. Vernon, MO
Thanks Geoff.
*******************************************************
Douglas M. White, PT, OCS
Physical Therapist, Consultant
191 Blue Hills Parkway
Milton, MA USA 02186
P: 617.696.1974
[log in to unmask]
http://DouglasWhite.tripod.com
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