First of all please let me wish everyone a very happy new year!! Today will be a day of reflection for many, including us….
2014 has been another amazing year for Physiopedia! We continue to be amazed by the support and enthusiasm of our collaborators and the direction that the project takes.
This past year we have certainly moved well beyond just being a ‘Wikipedia style resource‘, universally known in our own right as Physiopedia and becoming part of the professional ‘wallpaper’. Only this week I heard of a student that had never known a world without Physiopedia, and she was surprised to learn that this was a resource unique to her chosen profession. Also this week I was interviewed by the Open University in relation to research they are conducting on open resources that are building professional community. The reason they chose to investigate Physiopedia was that we are one of the very few online projects successfully delivering open professional education outside of an institution. It is evident that we are certainly making a difference. Earlier in the year we saw examples of direct impact on clinical practice during the open online course that we ran on spinal cord injuries. To be having this kind of impact is fantastic! These are the stories that motivate me, the quietly valued use, the contributions to our profession and the appreciation that this amazing project has (and continues) to achieve.
Looking back to a similar New Year post that I wrote last year I remember thinking how ambitious I was being with my predictions for 2014. Today I am surprised to see that, in one way or another, we have achieved all that I predicted we might. The reason I think is solely down to the the consistent altruistic commitment from our team. Without our partners and volunteers, as well as Tony and myself ‘in the office’, Physiopedia would not be the amazing professional resource that it is today. 2014 was a BIG year!
In 2014 we:
- Grew to become perhaps the largest physiotherapy and physical therapy website in the world with over 2000 pages of content visited by around 500,000 people from over 200 countries every month!
- Launched our new member area that provides cost effective access to additional resources that compliment the main Physiopedia resource such as courses, videos, books, and journals.
- Elsevier became our academic content partner and we continue to work with them to provide easier access to many of their resources.
- Ran the world’s first ever truly massive open online course (MOOC) for our profession with our ‘Physiotherapy management of spinal cord injuries‘ course.
- Published academic research (here and here) in relation to the SCI course.
- Created a project to aid collaboration to develop the next MOOC on amputee rehabilitation.
- Made plans to run a course on running MOOCs at next year’s WCPT Congress.
- Continued our partnership with the WCPT to collaborate in making a global contribution to our profession.
- Appointed two new non-executive directors to oversee our operations and ensure that we are continually working towards our community purpose.
- Launched our formal content reviewing process with a new peer review team.
- Started interviewing topic experts around the world, and these recorded audio interviews have proven to be fascinating.
- Launched a new system for attaining credit for the pages that you read in Physiopedia.
- Sponsored the inaugural student physiotherapy conference in Scotland.
- Set up a new service to deliver all the latest clinically relevant research straight to your inbox.
- Invited you all to publish your research openly in Physiopedia.
- Continue to collaborate with universities and professional organisations on ‘Projects’ to develop and update content within Physiopedia.
- Continue to work with our valued partners to make positive contributions to our profession.
In 2015, we will:
- Run more open online courses in collaboration with professional networks, starting with an amputee rehabilitation MOOC in collaboration with ICRC (The Red Cross).
- Develop more continuing education and professional development opportunities.
- Create an electronic library of e-text books and journals.
- Run a facilitated orientation course for new volunteers.
- Continue to develop partnerships that contribute to our mission.
- Seek a closer working relationship with national professional associations.
- Be attending WCPT Congress in Singapore in May, we’ll have a stand, see you there!
So I’ve set us some ambitious goals again for this year and am excited about other opportunities that may arise throughout the year. Have you set your professional goals yet for 2015? How will you contribute to our profession this year?
Physiopedia can make this easy for you. By making one of your 2015 goals a contribution to Physiopedia you will be making a contribution to your profession. You will be helping us to become the best global example of a professional health care resource, helping us to educate others all over the world, as well as raising the our profession’s identity. It doesn’t need to take up much of your time, here are some ideas:
- Share this post!
- Tell your colleagues about us.
- Use Physiopedia for your in-service training.
- Create or update just one page in Physiopedia in your area of expertise.
- Become a volunteer or join the peer review team.
- Get involved in our next MOOC by creating content or becoming a course moderator.
- Join our new education team to develop global learning opportunities.
- Become a Voices editor on Physiospot our online magazine (we’re also looking for a news editor!).
- Set up a Project with your university students.
- Create a project and professional development opportunity for your organisation members, similar to the PPA.
- National professional associations, talk to us! There are many ways in which we can collaborate for mutual benefits.
- Partner with us.
- Mention us on Twitter or share our Facebook posts with your friends and colleagues. Set a reminder for once a month, or even once a week.
Let me know what you decide to do and I will share each and every one of your contributions on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Thank you in advance for getting involved, together in 2015 we can achieve amazing things!