Ken Olson, PT, DHSc, OCS, FAAOMPT, former president of IFOMPT and Elaine Lonnemann, PT, DPT, OCS, MTC, FAAOMPT, a member of IFOMPT's identity and name change task force join this week's episode of PT Elevated to discuss the potential name change for IFOMPT. The upcoming August vote will determine whether the federation will change their name away from manual therapy to musculoskeletal.
Our hosts, Kory Zimney and Paul Mintken discuss with Ken Olson and Elaine Lonnemann the background on how IFOMPT started and why the federation is considering the change to the name IFOMPT and what that means for its members.
There are pros, including the potential to add more members and diversify the members and there are also a host of cons, including losing the narrowed focus on manual therapy that has led to specialized research.
Here are some of the highlights from the episode:
Pros
- Adding more members
- More diverse group of therapists
- Don't want to be aligned with a passive technique
Cons
- Musculoskeletal is still a narrow term
- Lose the hands-on specialized research and focus that comes with the narrow focus of manual therapy
- Lose the identity and brand of this subset of specialized therapists among the profession
- Further fractures among manual physical therapists with the possibility of new organizations popping up to fill this spot from influential members like Stanley Paris
How can you get started advocating?
Become a member, join the meetings, find a mentor and create relationships in your local community.
To get involved in the upcoming August vote, reach out to your membership organization, by either taking part in the vote or by connecting with your leaders that will be placing your organization's vote.
Links:
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