Yes, it’s that time of year again, time to reflect and look forward. I always find it a useful time to assess what we have achieved in the previous year and to make plans for the coming year. However this year we’re ahead of the game! There is a lot to be said for taking time out. This autumn we went on a rock climbing trip to Greece and the space that this gave us was profound. It allowed quality time for reflection but what we can’t help doing when we have this space is brainstorming and making crazy plans!
2015 was certainly a year where we consolidated our purpose and strategy. Following the open amputee rehabilitation course that we ran in collaboration with the ICRC we now know that we can reach educationally disadvantaged physiotherapists all around the world. There are so many of our colleagues that have limited opportunities for professional development due to a lack of books, courses, visiting experts, even electricity and the permission to use the internet. Even in well resourced communities professional development can be time and cost ineffective… This is where we come in. It is our aim to reach all physiotherapists and physical therapists who are hungry to further their education and professionally develop.
There are so many opportunities in 2016 for people to use Physiopedia for their learning and development:
- The main part of the Physiopedia project is our “Wikipedia for physiotherapists”. With your help this continues to grow and be continually updated. Get involved with your colleagues, students, staff – imagine if every physiotherapist took responsibility for just one page in Physiopedia, wouldn’t that create an amazing resource!!
- Following the professional ethics, spinal cord injuries and amputee rehabilitation courses we will be extending our global health programme. There are rumours of the 2016 MOOC being on cerebral palsy…
- We will also be extending Physiopedia Plus to offer more professional development opportunities. This part of Physiopedia is how we make the whole project sustainable allowing us to continue to offer the open information site and the open global health programme. If you appreciate what we do and would like to help support this not-for-profit project please become a member, the more members we have, the more free courses and resources we can provide!
It’s going to be a year of consolidating what we do to benefit the profession and our patients. Now with over 1 million page visits every month Physiopedia is one of the best opportunities to promote our profession and we invite you to join us. Here’s how:
- Individuals – become a volunteer; become a PP+ member; review and update pages in Physiopedia; share your opinions with a Voices column on Physiospot.
- Clinics, universities, professional organisations – complete a content project in Physiopedia with your staff, students, members; join everyone up to PP+ for extra professional development resources; talk to us about how we can help you!
- Member associations – join the Canadian Physiotherapy Association to give your members extra benefits from Physiopedia.
I have a feeling that it’s going to be an exciting ride this year as we establish our position, build our team and create the best educational resource for physiotherapists and physical therapists worldwide. I’m buckling up and setting off down the long winding road, who’s coming with me?