Monday, February 28, 2011

Gaining Respect On Physiotherapy

The importance of physiotherapy in Malaysia is becoming more recognised amongst other health personnel as well by the community. According to Dr Balwant Singh Bains, the president of the Malaysian Physiotherapy Association (MPA), there are 209 private and 157 public hospitals in Malaysia employing about 750 physiotherapists. There are almost 200 other physiotherapists employed by NGOs, working or running own private clinics.

Physiotherapy has been in Malaysia since after our Merdeka yet we still lack the respect that we deserve. We don't even have our own council which should voice our rights. I personally attribute this to various factors:

1. Majority of the physiotherapists in Malaysia currently are only diploma holders. I'm not saying diploma holders are of low quality because I've met many great and amazing physiotherapists (Puan Ruhaya Hussien, Madam Sarkuna and many others) who are just diploma holders yet they upgrade themselves through attending various courses. However, we should be at par with other profession which produces many degree holders. Doctors are at minimal having a degree and we should follow in that step. Countries like Australia and the UK are not even focusing on producing degree holders but to produce more post-graduates of physiotherapy. Having post-graduate qualifications allow us to specialise in the various disciplines of physiotherapy and not just be a general practitioner.

2. In countries like Australia and India, the physiotherapists are considered extended scope practitioners where they don't need a doctor's referral to attend to patients. They may even refer the patients for X-ray without having to go through doctors. To achieve this, we must improve the curriculum of studying. For example, my batch of degree from UiTM did not get to learn on interpreting radiographic images, pharmacology or various clinical conditions. However my juniors are lucky to have those taught to them. These are the subjects that should be taught in all colleges and universities to allow physiotherapists to also be the first-hand practitioners for patients. This would ease the job of doctors to not have to attend to too many patients, also would improve the integrity of the physiotherapy profession.

3. How we carry ourselves reflect alot on the profession. We physiotherapists are the masters in posture, biomechanics and gait (walking pattern). Yet it is very disappointing to see the postures of physiotherapists themselves. We teach patients to have and maintain good posture yet many of us don't even comply to the knowledge and skills that we have. Notice how a medical specialist stands and walks? Notice how bosses of multimillion companies talk? We should follow those demeanour. We should be able to talk in a more professional, confident and charismatic way yet gentle and still be soft spoken. English is a language that all of us must be able to communicate with fluently.

4. Performing assessments and provision of interventions should be to the maximal capacity possible within the time frame of meeting the patients. I have to admit, sometimes I get disappointed by how a physiotherapist assess and treat a patient. I would notice that a more meticulous assessment and treatment could be performed. Determination of goals should be done accurately and to be able to differentiate between an important goal and an urgent goal is vital.

Here's my cry to the physiotherapists of Malaysia, don't be satisfied with just a diploma or a degree, get higher qualifications. We should all carry ourselves better through the way we talk, walk and our general posture. Also we should give patients the best of assessments and treatments as we should always target for the patient to cure. This would prove to other health personnel as well as fellow citizens that physiotherapy do work.

In many occasions we have been disrespected, undermined and underestimated. It is not something that we can demand but something that we should earn. This need to change and it should happen now.

31 comments:

  1. 4 years degree is too long, nak + PHD lagi @_@

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey we need to build the profession. Medical degree 5-7 years + specialisation lagi, how many years would that be?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kne naik kan gaji dulu,
    baru smngt nak amik PHD.
    6-7 years blaja. gaji sikit. @_@

    ReplyDelete
  4. to earn what we want, 1st we've got to show what we've got. I do agree physiotherapists pay should be increased, but with an attitude of working only for what u've got is not a way to change their minds on increasing our payment. no?

    ReplyDelete
  5. zaid: yeah but most PHD holders or even masters work as lecturers but part time clinicians.

    ain: i agree. at the end of the day, i still believe that we health personnel, not just physios, docs, nurses and etc should work to help the patients not just for the money

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fifi: thanx! btw im following ur blog too! this is a revolution!

    ReplyDelete
  7. haha..u guys..good luck eh..i stop bloggin last year..mine is insomniafiq@blogspot.com..now its gone..hopefully i can revive it again..anyway..keep up da good work guys..!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. thanx afiq! u gotta support me here man

    ReplyDelete
  9. i've met clinicians that are happy with 1.5k/month just because he said at least his workloads aren't that high. i was like whaaatt?

    i mean, he practically mean he's not interested in upgrading himself as a therapist. Bila la nak maju en? haha. Kelakar how short-minded some people can be.

    ReplyDelete
  10. ain: aww thats just sad kan. firstly i cant imagine how he can live on 1.5k/month. secondly, these are the exact kind of people who brings the physiotherapy profession down. kena ade brain-wash program la

    ReplyDelete
  11. brainwash? they dont even have a brain

    ReplyDelete
  12. bravo la anip....i ni ternnti2 ur next topic..huhu..ni bende yg we always talk wif hayyam too..huhu

    ReplyDelete
  13. some do, many dont kot. well change have to start somewhere and by someone

    ReplyDelete
  14. by the way its me la..niques...ngehehe..

    ReplyDelete
  15. ah niq! itula i was wondering who commented, siap tau nama hayyam

    ReplyDelete
  16. hehe...i tak reti blog2 ni..jd anoy suda la..hope ramai yg baca this kan...

    ReplyDelete
  17. thanx niq! sila promote and follow my blog k. Boleh click nak jadi follower kat tepi tu and u'll get updates on my new postings. thanx dear!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for sharing Hanif, nice post, it kinda cries out the hearts of physios student in M'sia. Guess long way to go till we change the concept of physio in M'sia..

    ReplyDelete
  19. Pian: thanx!

    Mei Tee: Well we're the new breed of physios, we gotta be the change to lead others to change as well

    ReplyDelete
  20. I suffered from sciatica. at least that is what i think it is, based on my reading, do u know anything about it?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Sciatica is basically aused by spasm of the piriformis muscle which is located at the buttocks. what happens is, when the muscle becomes spasm (inflamed in another word), it impinges the main nerve going down the leg, the sciatic nerve. taht's why patients with sciatica commonly complain of pain going down the legs.

    if u want, i can have a look at u and treat u. i make housecalls

    ReplyDelete
  22. Based on what i read on the net, i did some streching exercise. it help reduce the pain but not completely. the symptoms are just like u said, pain on my left leg from buttocks going down to my foot. I hope i did the right exercises since based on what i read the strecthing exercise is diffrent depends on what causing the sciatica.

    ReplyDelete
  23. zahid: thats great becoz the stretches should help u alot. try and copy paste the link below and watch how the stretches are done

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKV53H9IvDM

    ReplyDelete
  24. anytime, u can msg me on fb or here to get further advise

    ReplyDelete
  25. Ladies n gents, my suggestion and advice to all of you commenting on blogs is to not talk about your fellow professionals in an open forum and pass judgement. Furthermore, giving a consult over a chat is not the most professional and accurate diagnosis to make.

    I'm sure you are all smart, entrepreneurial and clinically sound....so let's just uphold some level of professionalism.....

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thank you Marc for your suggestion. I fully agree with you, there has to be great professionalism when giving remarks and suggestions with regards to our profession as publicly doing something could create unwanted impression on physiotherapy in Malaysia.

    Do realise that this post was written with an objective. A positive objective where it suggests improvements and not undermining the profession and the people within it. And do realise physiotherapists in Malaysia would always ask and tell you "how many years of experience do you have? I have so and so years (which are usually in double digits)". Therefore Ive written this to voice out my conrcerns as being a young physiotherapist in Malaysia who is extremnely concern on the current standards of practices and self-image of the job, I don't see it being up to the par of Australia and the UK. Being a young physio would also simply put my ideas and thoughts away as many of the super experience veteran ones always feel they are right and the voice of the young ones would only fall on deaf ears.

    Also, I don't see anyone, be it the experience nor the young ones do much on uplifting our standards of practice and my only medium of providing my thoughts is through this simple writing of a blog. We would love to lead, we would love to give ideas, we would love to be in front there and say "this is right and old practices are not necessarily right (nor it is always wrong)". We young physios do need to put ourselves in the limelight and instead of joining the drama that often occurs, We, or shall I say myself, would prefer to voice it in the form of writing intellectually, professionally and while still be able to be self-opinionated.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Hanif

    If you are going to publish a definition of sciatica as being caused by spasm of the piriformis muscle on a national Physio website and then wonder why Malaysian physios are not taken seriously, then please don't be surprised.

    Sciatica is inflammation or impingement of the sciatic nerve which in most cases is due to a prolapsed disc,

    This is why there is so much misdiagnosis by physios in this country.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hello Anonymous,

    I appreciate your input and correction. I should have realised that mistake.

    But would u agree with me that sciatica is also caused by spasm of the piriformis muscle?

    You are right too. The text below is a paragraph from an assignment i once wrote and yes you are right by saying it is mostly caused by a PID.

    The sciatic nerve derives from the spinal nerve roots L4 to S3. A common cause of sciatica is a prolapsed intervetebral disc that compresses on one or more of the nerve roots of the sciatic nerve (Luijsterburg, Verhagen, Ostelo, van Os, Peul & Koes, 2007). Descending from the spinal column to the lower limbs, the sciatic nerve commonly passes underneath the piriformis muscle; however in approximately 15% of the population, it travels through the muscle. Acute or chronic injury affecting the piriformis muscle might result in swelling of the muscle and irritates the sciatic nerve, causing sciatica (Jenkins, 1997). Other causes of sciatica may include spinal or lateral recess stenosis, tumours or radiculitis (Luijsterburg et al., 2007).

    But of course you can't deny the fact that it is also caused by the spasm of the piriformis muscle right? :) Therefore any misdiagnosis from what I said?

    Thank you again for your suggestion and additional input of knowledge. I do hope many more people like you would help correct other physios boldly and I hope other physios would also take it openly.

    p/s: this is just a blog, not a national physio website but I'm also surprise that many actually read it. Awesome!

    ReplyDelete