I hate those days when I’m struggling to finish my chart notes. Those days when I feel drained and my brain feels like mush. It sucks. Plus, I want to avoid having personal relationships get the dregs of my energy. While I can feel in the flow with patients, I can find getting my notes […]
A Tale of Two Lumberjacks: An Unlikely Practice for More Clinical Energy Read More »
When patients complain of ‘tightness’, ‘stiffness’ and ‘pains and aches’ without a specific mechanism of injury it can be challenging. In part because the complaints can often feel vague.
How to Leverage Systems Thinking to Treat Your Most Challenging Patients Read More »
In my last blog post, I introduced the concept of a clinical reasoning framework and how it can help you reduce decision-making overwhelm and fatigue. I outlined why it’s important to develop your own clinical reasoning framework and the benefit of owning your framework. Today, I want to walk through the three key building blocks
Unpacking the 3 Key Building Blocks of Your Clinical Reasoning Framework Read More »
You’re looking at the assessment data you’ve scribbled on your sheet of paper or in your EMR. Feelings of anxiety and overwhelm start to bubble to the surface.
A Path Out of Clinical Reasoning Overwhelm Read More »
It sucks when you get thrown for a loop with a patient. They can throw off your day and it can feel hard to bounce back from these encounters. It can be especially unsettling when flare-up symptoms are more dramatic than expected.
Navigating Patient Flare-Ups: My Step-By-Step Process Read More »
Dashrath Manjhi was a man who set out to do the impossible. He was a lowly labourer in the isolated Indian town of Gehlaur. Tragically, his wife was badly injured from a mountain fall and because of the mountain terrain, she was unable to access medical services and died. Dashrath decided to change things and
The Secret to Ongoing Professional Growth Read More »
In post-grad education, the course is king. They’re the mainstay of professional development efforts for good reason. But I’ve noticed in my own growth and development that relying purely on courses for professional growth is only part of the answer.
Courses Are King…But Are They? Four Key Areas to Look at for Sustained Growth Read More »
Clinical work can be draining and we can easily find ourselves feeling exhausted, going through the motions and experiencing burnout. One day bleeds into the next and little excites us in our day.
I Was Ready To Walk Away From My Physiotherapy Career: The Surprising Way Out of Burnout Read More »
Clinical work is demanding. And often times it can feel that we’re on the edge, between feeling good and giving it our all, and feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and burnt out. A number of years ago I was sailing on Lake Okanagan with a friend in a hobie cat sailboat. One of the thrills of this
Living On The Edge: 5 Strategies To Avoid Burnout Read More »
Anxiety. It can range from minor annoyance to crippling. And there’s no lack of opportunities to feel anxiety when seeing patients. Whether it’s an assessment that is running behind, a more complex assessment than expected, or a patient who appears to be rapidly losing motivation for treatment. I’m no stranger to anxiety and have found
How to Overcome Anxiety and Overwhelm to Sustain Clinical Flow Read More »
Clinical flow. It’s a topic infused in everything I have written about. But sometimes it can feel a little fuzzy as to what it means. Today I dive into the concept of “clinical flow”. I believe that every clinician should improve their capacity to operate in a flow state. In my view, the ability to
Clinical Flow & Why It Matters For Your Growth Read More »
Myotome testing is often seen as a necessary, but not always insightful element, of a shoulder assessment. It’s easy to fall into the trap of seeing myotome testing as optional for the shoulder patient — especially if there doesn’t seem to be any suspected radicular or peripheral neuropathic indications from the patient history. Do you
A Fresh Look at Myotome Testing: A Key to Unlocking Better Shoulder Results Read More »
Patients not doing their exercises is frustrating. We spend time teaching them exercises and we feel confident that they know the parameters of the exercise for at home practice. But when we ask them how their exercises went the past week, we can get a lukewarm response or hesitation from our patients. Pressing a little
How to Overcome this Patient Roadblock & Avoid Exercise Despair Read More »
Treating painful shoulders can be tricky and there is an often overlooked cause of shoulder pain. When we’re dealing with a painful shoulder and we see a loss of overhead movement, it’s easy to focus our attention on the glenohumeral joint. We may jump to mobilizing the shoulder joint to improve joint biomechanics. The scapula
An Often Overlooked Cause of Shoulder Pain Read More »
I find that sometimes I get stuck. Not unlike when I was in my teens and my brother and I got our parent’s 1987 Ford Taurus stuck on a forestry service road in the Cascade mountains. No matter how many times we tried to go forward and backwards we were stuck. (I’ll share more of
A New Way to Get Unstuck From Your Clinical Problems Read More »
I don’t know about you, but I find that it’s almost automatic to put patients into categories. We have our easy patients and we have our hard patients. Someone who is young, motivated, body aware and has healthy beliefs about movement and pain can easily fall into the easy category. But what constitutes a hard
Get Unstuck Treating Hard Patients: 4 Pitfalls & 3 Treatment Buckets For Results Read More »
I love rafting whitewater. And when I had the chance to become a raft guide in my twenties while working at a rafting company, I took it. I spent countless cold, rainy spring days on the river honing my raft-guiding skills. Outside of the mechanics of controlling a raft, the training was focused on reading
The 5 Enemies of Clinical Presence & 5 Strategies to Overcome Them Read More »
I’m embarrassed to share this story. It was a long time ago and I chalk it up to an underdeveloped mind. I was 7 or 8 years old and was convinced that a “couple” could mean two or three. Even when I had older siblings correct me, I would become adamant that I was correct.
I have two young boys, and every night we will read a storybook. Our most well-worn book is called “The Gruffalo”. It’s a wonderful little book that recounts the story of a very inventive and clever mouse who has to evade several forest creatures. After assuming he has avoided dangers, he meets upon a Gruffalo
Ready to Boost Your Clinical Agility? Read More »
Therapeutic exercise. It’s a staple of a physiotherapist’s toolbox. No other intervention has as much research supporting it. As movement clinicians, we know this. That’s why we’re always keen to learn a new exercise or identify a fresh twist on the tried and true exercises. Prescribing the right exercise is important, but there are two
The 2 Mistakes To Avoid With Exercise Prescription (& the Surprising Solution) Read More »
It’s easy for us as clinicians to feel like we’re falling behind. That constant feeling like we’re not keeping up. And no wonder we feel that way. Just looking at the amount of new information that is created on a daily basis is staggering. According to a Forbes article, there are 2.5 quintillion bytes of
This is the Real Value We Offer Our Patients Read More »
Discomfort. Self-doubt. Overwhelm. These emotions can be present with us every single day… often to varying degrees with every patient. Unfortunately, these emotions can hound us as physiotherapists. We are constantly dealing with discomfort, uncertainty and even overwhelm in our clinical practice. And part of the problem is that no condition presents the same. Take
How to Thrive in the Face of Clinical Uncertainty & 3 Strategies to Avoid Overwhelm Read More »
It’s amazing the amount of information that gets thrown at us daily. Social media feeds. Email. News. Plus all of the information we need to sift through as we go about our clinical days. It’s easy to get stuck thinking that better clinical performance comes from consuming more and more information. But here’s the rub…
The #1 Key to Better Clinical Performance Read More »
Keeping our patients motivated can be hard. Let’s face it. Their motivation ebbs and flows. Helping our patients sustain their motivation is crucial to them achieving their goals. Let’s look at the all too common scenario: A patient is highly motivated when they come in because they’re in pain. As the pain decreases, their motivation
How to Keep Patients Motivated When Pain Subsides Read More »
Do you struggle with trying to motivate your patients to do their exercises? Many physiotherapists have a difficult time motivating their patients to do their exercises. This can create an exhausting cycle for the therapist when they realize that despite their best efforts, the patient never does the exercises. We’re convinced that motivation is the
Stop Trying to Motivate Your Patients To Exercise Read More »
Making personal health changes can be hard. Starting an exercise program can be hard. Reframing beliefs about our body and pain can be hard. These can be hard things to do. Yet, we ask our patients to do all of these things when they come for physiotherapy. Patients can come to physiotherapy feeling frustrated and
Why Patients Struggle to Implement Change Read More »
As physiotherapists, it’s easy to feel like we need more of something when the work we’re doing doesn’t seem to be getting the results that we want. When we get stuck with our treatments, we think it’s because we lack something. It can feel like there is always another course or certification that will make
When Physiotherapists Get Stuck: Demystifying the Pitfalls of Feeling Like You Need More Read More »
[This article originally was published on the CPA Pain Science Division Blog here] Why We Need to Take Sleep More Seriously As physiotherapists who treat patients with persistent pain, it’s important not to shy away from exploring the role of sleep in recovery and wholeness. It’s very common for patients with chronic pain to experience
Do Your Patients Tell You They Cannot Sleep? Read More »
Sleep impacts so many different aspects of our health and life. I want to highlight 16 reasons why this topic of sleep should matter for us as physiotherapists. Are you ready? Here we go! #1: Sleep Affects A Lot of People Disrupted sleep affects a large portion of the population. When looking at the stats,
16 Reasons Why Sleep Should Matter to Physical Therapists Read More »
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
The 4 Key Components to a Thriving Caseload Read More »
Whether stress comes from the limitations of a clients injury or other psychosocial factors, what specific tools do you provide your patients to help them better cope with stress in their lives? Have you ever wondered if there was something more that could be done with patients as they’re laying at the beginning or end
3 Easy Steps to Help Patients De-Stress During Treatment Read More »
We spend a third of our lives sleeping. Anyone who has experienced any disruption in sleep will attest to the far-reaching effects of broken sleep to all areas of functioning. In this article, I would like to provide a brief overview for physiotherapists of insomnia, the most common sleep condition affecting people today, and then
Sleep: A Potential Missing Link in Your Treatment Read More »
Recently on the podcast, physiotherapists Andrew Koppejan and Maxi Miciak sat down with Jeff Begg and Simon Cooke to discuss some of the common and not-so-common challenges that clinicians may encounter when treating MVA patients. Simon is a physiotherapist and clinic owner in Edmonton, Alberta and currently serves as Council President with Physiotherapy Alberta. He
Navigating the Common Challenges With MVA/MVC Management in Alberta Read More »
Recently ignitephysio podcast hosts Andrew Koppejan and Maxi Miciak sat down with physiotherapists Jeff Begg and Simon Cooke, along with Julie Chartrand, medical claims advisor with Peace Hills Insurance, across two interviews (see here and here) to chat about MVA regulations in Alberta and common challenges that come with managing MVA patients. This article is part of a
Understand How to Use an IMC When Treating MVA/MVC Patients in Alberta Read More »
Recently ignitephysio podcast hosts Andrew Koppejan & Maxi Miciak sat down with some key insiders (physiotherapists & insurance adjusters) across two podcast interviews (see here and here) to chat about MVA regulations in Alberta and common challenges they face when managing MVA patients. In this article, we will cover the current Diagnostic & Treatment Protocols (DTPR), the history of these
Master Your Understanding of MVA/MVC Insurance Regulation in Alberta Read More »
In the study “Physical Therapy in the Treatment of Central Pain Mechanisms for Female Sexual Pain” the authors provide a detailed explanation and walk-through of treating female sexual pain using a biopscyhosocial approach. In the evaluation section of the article, they share some powerful statistics as it relates to the presence of central pain mechanisms
Increasing Your Confidence in Identifying Centrally Mediated Pain in Your Patients Read More »
Exercise Software Review Part 2: SimpleSet It’s been a little while since the first part of our exercise software review series, but I’m back again with our next review. (To take a look at my review of Physiotec you can go here) SimpleSet (get a free month by using my link) is on the stand
Simpleset Exercise Software Review Read More »
We’ve all had those courses that we’ve successfully completed, but haven’t really applied the material in our practices. Courses are costly and time consuming, so it only makes sense that we actually integrate the information we have learned into our practices and grow as professionals. To help you achieve this and get the most of
How To Get The Most Out of A Physio Course Read More »
Our Best Resources for IEPTs and Students to Help Prepare For the PCE As ignitephysio continues to grow, there are more members asking questions on the Q&A; board and more articles/blogs published on the site. This is great of course, but we wanted to create a top resources list for physiotherapists at varying stages of
Top 9 Resources to Help You Pass the PCE: IEPTs and Students Read More »
Twitter, and other social media outlets, are a great way for physiotherapists to keep up-to-date on the latest research and clinically-relevant information. Not only that, social media creates a great platform for clinicians to connect with one another and acts as a great medium for information sharing between clinicians world-wide! However, it can be challenging
63 Twitter Accounts for Physiotherapists to Follow Read More »
So you\’ve bought those perfect shoes that let you be comfortable on your feet all day long and you\’ve found that elusive pair of dress pants that actually allow you to move. Your name tag is in your bag and you\’ve set an alarm for Monday…three hours before you actually have to be on site.
How To Survive Your First Physiotherapy Placement Read More »
If there’s one thing that is the bedrock in our care of patients as physiotherapists it is patient education. We educate our patients about a lot of things. Here’s just a short list: patient’s condition our assessment findings treatment plan anatomy and physiology specific treatments and their rationale referral to another healthcare provider diagnostic report
Using Metaphors & Analogies to Improve Patient Education in Physiotherapy Read More »
Exercise Software Review Part 1: Physiotec Exercise software is one of the most popular pieces of software that physiotherapists use on a daily basis in practice and yet there are no reviews of exercise software for physiotherapists that I’ve come across. With such an important piece of software it’s important to make a choice that
Exercise Software Review Part 1: Physiotec Read More »
Whether you’re a new grad or an internationally educated physiotherapist trying to land your first physiotherapist job, you’ll end up having a conversation with an employer about compensation. While many of us think of compensation as only our salary, it can be so much more than this and can include a range of other benefits
Understanding Job Compensation For Physiotherapists Read More »
An Introduction from ignitephysio Whether you’re a new physiotherapy grad or recently immigrated to Canada looking to work at a private clinic, you’re going to encounter the challenge and complexity surrounding becoming an employee or an independent contractor. I know when I started out, it was a confusing topic and it was hard to find
Employee or Independent Contractor: What does it matter for a physiotherapist? Read More »
When it comes down to it, it can be a long haul to become a physiotherapist in Canada. Whether you\’re an internationally trained physiotherapist awaiting Canadian licensing or a physiotherapy student working through the Master’s program, you might be looking for additional opportunities within the field, to help you build your skill set as you
I know as physiotherapists, we love to travel. I’m not sure what it is, but being immersed in other cultures helps us see the world differently. And if we look at those cultures, they’re always evolving. Just look at how much North American culture has changed over the past forty years. Moving from another country
Physiotherapy Practice Abroad and in Canada: The Cultural Differences Read More »
Getting the job you want as a physiotherapist hinges on your specific skills and experience, your interview and your resume. Aside from your skills and experience your resume is the most important component in the job search process. Without a good one, your chances of getting an interview are greatly diminished. In a previous article, we
10 Common Physiotherapy Resume Pitfalls Read More »
Most of us have a preference when it comes down to living in a city or a smaller community. Some love the amenities that come with living in a city of greater than 1 million people, while others wish for nothing more than to live in a town where you know your neighbors and recognize
Should I Practice Rural vs. Urban. You Decide! Read More »
Where Do I Start? Preparing to take the Physiotherapy Competency Exam (PCE) is a big moment in any Canadian physiotherapist’s career. It’s the hurdle that stands between becoming a licensed physiotherapist and finally helping patients. Starting with the written component quickly followed by the clinical portion, passing the PCE is a stressful and daunting process
The Top 10 Best Resources to Prepare for The Physiotherapy Competency Exam Read More »
Leading up to any big test like the Physiotherapy Competency Exam (PCE), it’s common to feel some pre-test anxiety and nerves. We worry about forgetting the information we’ve spent weeks memorizing or encountering questions that we won’t know the answer to. Feeling nervous or anxious before an exam is something that most people can identify
Physiotherapy Competency Exam (PCE) Prep: How To Manage Test Stress and Anxiety Read More »
Landing a great job not only takes having a great resume and experience, it also takes having a great interview. If you have been bshortlisted for an interview, you likely have most of the skills required for the job. Typically, interviewers are looking for key soft skills you’ll need to succeed in the job and
What’s With Physiotherapist Abbreviations? If you ask most physiotherapists, no matter if they work publically, privately, in home care or in the community, they will tell you that the part they love most about their jobs is the patient interaction. But, if you ask them the worst part of their jobs, for most it’ll be
Deciphering Physiotherapist Charting Abbreviations: Our Top 40 PT Acronyms Read More »
You’ve memorized your theory, wrapped up your course work, passed every test and completed your practicum requirements. So now it’s time to be a real physiotherapist, right?! Not quite yet. Before you are able to put all of that hard work to use, there’s one more hurdle to overcome: The Physiotherapy Competency Exam (PCE). Getting
The Physiotherapy Competency Exam (PCE): How to Get Through in One Piece Read More »
Isn’t it tough starting out? You’re fresh out of physiotherapy school. You’ve passed the PCE, but now the real adventure begins. And the question inevitably comes up: which courses should I be taking? New Physiotherapist Grad Course Recommendations: Where Do You Start? So off I went to look for some answers. I asked a variety
The Best Courses for New Physiotherapist Grads: What Seasoned Clinicians Say Read More »
If you’re an internationally educated physiotherapist (or a new grad!) trying to secure yourself a position in Canada, the first thing you’ll want to fine-tune is your resume. Here are some ways to ensure you’re showing yourself in the best light – and what to avoid. The Right PT Job Starts with a Great Resume
3 Dos and Dont’s of Creating a Killer Physiotherapist Resume Read More »
Whether stress comes from the limitations of a clients injury or other psychosocial factors, what specific tools do you provide your patients to help them better cope with stress in their lives? Have you ever wondered if there was something more that could be done with patients as they’re laying at the beginning or end
3 Easy Steps to Help Patients De-Stress During Treatment Read More »
Reconsidering Boundaries Moves Us Forward (Read Part 1 & Part 2 here) Are physiotherapists doing psychotherapy? Applying Frank and Frank’s descriptions, I say yes, physiotherapy treatment can be psychotherapeutic. In my view, psychotherapy is not solely contingent upon the treatment of psychological diagnoses; rather, it is a form of therapy that addresses the psychological factors of a person’s experience. Of
Finding Freud in Physiotherapy-Part 3 Read More »
Contextual Theory –An Unexpected Ally Although physiotherapy supports models that acknowledge psychological elements of rehabilitation, it may be surprising that support also comes from psychiatry. American psychiatrists Jerome and Julia Frank broadened the definition of psychotherapy by arguing that it is the healing relationship between a healing agent (therapist) and a sufferer (patient).1 The sufferer, wanting to alleviate disability,
Finding Freud in Physiotherapy-Part 2 Read More »
Visioning Practice Through a Psychotherapeutic Lens M.A.S.H. is a 1970’s television show about people serving in a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War. The quality of writing and acting impeccably combine dramatic and comedic flare to address weighty social issues and complex interpersonal relationships. Some of these storylines relate to the scope of
Finding Freud in Physiotherapy: Part 1 Read More »
When Things Get Tough Whenever I need a little perspective, I’ll often look to find a good book and a good one I did find. It’s a little gem by Seth Godin called “The Dip”. It doesn’t break a 100 pages, but it’s message (as is often the case with Godin’s books) is an insightful one. He
Getting Through The Dip Read More »
In this blog entry we’ll continue to delve into insights shared in the book The Switch by the Heath brothers. Their general insights into personal change could prove beneficial in our work as physiotherapists. I believe that refining our change behavior skills can make us more effective in helping our patients become healthier and more resilient. And
Unmotivated Patient? A New Perspective on Goal Setting Read More »
In my last blog entry I talked about the reality that self-control (the much needed resource for change behaviour) is a limited resource. And so what we as therapists can perceive in our patients as resistance, laziness or discontent can really be a lack of the much needed energy to engage in change behaviour. The
Shrink the Change! Read More »
