When a recipient of the Golden Hands Award says that cycling 30 km in a day is an ‘easy ride’ – you stop and listen. Though Doctor Patricia Fonstad, or Pat as her patients lovingly call her, is nearing the end of her career, her years as a MSK Clinical Specialist have taught her a thing or two that still reward her life today. “No one gets to this stage in their career by themselves; I have st...

As a kid, he spent the quiet days of summer with his Grandma, roaming the countryside in her Honda Civic packed with a 2x6 and a shovel, looking for the perfect fishing spot. She was the one who taught him to fish, and now Paul Hunter, Calgary Physiotherapist, gets to pass on his love for sport, adventure and the great outdoors. Transitioning out of what has been a hectic, but fulfilling, 12-y...

Since the release of the 2017 Canadian Census, aging, and the onset of the 'grey tsunami' has had a lot of media attention – longer lifespans and a lower birth rate mean that the proportion of adults over 65 in the overall population has been increasing since early in the 20th century[1]. Much of the medical literature on aging has to do with managing or treating disease (acute or chronic) or ...

For this week’s challenge I want to us to take a look at goal setting with our patients. In our practice it’s easy to gloss over digging into our patient’s goals. Turn on CC to get closed captioning and watch the video without sound. From my own experience, it’s easy to assume that we already know what our patient goals are from the rest of our patient’s story, but glossing over these thi...

For this week’s challenge I want to look at how we slip into the tendency of glossing over the successes that our patients achieve during their treatment. Turn on CC to get closed captioning and watch the video without sound. Along the rehab journey, we work with our patients to achieve certain milestones. Whether that’s ROM, strength, returning to certain activities or sports. Because ...

Welcome to Part 2! This follow-up article continues where Part 1 left off, and examines structures in the sacroiliac and hip regions that may contribute to testicular pain.  The focus is on how these structures interact with one another to produce testicular pain, and the techniques an orthopedic therapist might use to create lasting relief for the patient. Topics discussed in this articl...

Technology is a great thing and more and more clinics are using electronic charting. But are we creating a potential barrier in connecting with patients with our use of technology during our assessments? Check out this short (1:30) video where I share about the danger of technology in building patient connection.  If you're a Canadian physiotherapist, then make sure to join to get access to fu...

When we get busy treating patients we can end up taking shortcuts that can impact our patient connection and therapeutic alliance. Check out this short (1:30) video where I share something that can strengthen your patient connection and build your caseload.  If you're a Canadian physiotherapist, then make sure to join to get access to future caseload building tips. If you're outside of Canada,...

If you’re a new grad there’s a constant, wake-up-at-night, pressure to create and maintain a caseload. You’re not immune to this pressure if you’re a therapist that has been practicing for some time. Developing a new practice focus or moving to a new geographic area will increase the pressure to create a full caseload. And if you’re a clinic owner, you want your therapists to have a full caselo...