physiotherapist & physical medicine/rehab physicians

[gcoe]

With all due respect, quorthon, physiotherapists working in hospital settings offer different services to those in private practice. In private practice you are generally limited to the ambulant patient. In the hospital settings you see a much wider variety of patients and have opportunities to contribute to such areas as inpatient and community rehabilitation, high levels disablement, tertiary level care, and patients who may be very ill, that you don’t get to do in private practice. What motivates physios working in these settings has little to do with financial motivation and a lot to do with doing the best for people who really need our care. In my experience here in NZ and Australia physios working in the hospital system come with a variety of motivations, and abilities but most are very dedicated to being the best clinician they can be and often have knowledge and skills that private practitioners don’t have. I think it is a case of working in a different and often more challenging environment.

In our system physios in the public hospital system are team members who work with ( and not for) Drs, occupational therapists, nurses, speech language therapists, rehab assistants, radiographers and so on in close teams. Physios enjoy quite a high level of autonomy but remain accountable to the team, patients and their team leaders. I am not saying that the system is ideal or that there aren’t negative influences on physios but to suggest that the only way forward is private practice is absurd.


aaaphysio

I re-read your question and realise I didn’t get it right, rather went off on an autonomy lecture! Your question is quite clear. Give me a few days to think about it and I’ll see if I can come with something that might be more useful