Dear alophysio,

interesting questions you pose and what I hope will be the start of a good thread. From a personal viewpoint I would echo Physiofish in that a mix of theory allied to excellent clinical practical skills is what differentiates the good practitioner from the average.

I am struggling with the same problems as you at the moment. I am 3 years qualified over here in the UK and have recently specialised in musculoskeletal Physio in the last year. I personally have difficulty with wanting to know the reasons behind every treatment I see or perform and find this can lead to a chaotic, unorganised approach. I am currently trying to become more disciplined and focus on one area or topic at a time. It's just frustrating knowing that there is no quick way of advancing ability or knowledge without getting in that all-important patient 'mileage'.

In terms of my own CPD I hope to start a MSc in the next 1-2 years combined with progressing through the Maitland courses to improve my clinical practical skills. Up to now I have done several short courses. Several musculoskeletal MSc courses won't accept you until you have a set amount of hours experience, which I feel is a good thing.

It is interesting to note your comment "...there aren't too many (proportionally) doing their Masters in Physio." The perception we here in the UK tend to have of Australasian physios is that the majority of you go on to do Masters. I feel we tend to look toward Australia and NZ as the centre of excellence for musculoskeletal physio, possibly largely due to the large amount of excellent research that comes from your side of the world.

Out of interest, how long have you been qualified and where do you see yourself going? This should guide your selection of courses.

Finally 'Clinical eurodynamics' by M Shacklock is an excellent practically oriented text to that area. Don't forget some of the older text books, as I am already finding that as a profession we often do an excellent job of 're-inventing the wheel'. Things such as PNF texts and Grieves 'Mobilisation of the Spine' are still as relevant today as when they were published, provided they are tempered by subsequent research findings.

Hope this view from a fellow 'newbie' helps,

Craig