Finding the heart of a profession
Finding new voices on Reddit
Not so long ago, if you wanted to know what physiotherapy around the world was really about, your options were limited to books and journals.
Journals used to be more like community newsletters, with announcements of local courses, practical tips and tricks, and even births, deaths, and marriages. But these went out as journals put their emphasis on scientific evidence and research outcomes.
Editorials still carried some subjective opinions on the social and cultural aspects of the profession, but even these have been marginalised in recent years.
So, if you wanted to know where the beating heart of the profession is right now, where would you look?
There’s no shortage of full-blooded opinion swilling around on Facebook and Twitter, and not all of it constructive, but over the last few years, I’ve found a really rich source of material on Reddit.
Reddit touts itself as the news for the Internet. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of other forms of social media, but its section on physiotherapy (sub-sections on Reddit are called “Sub-Reddits”) is always interesting.
People post questions onto the physio sub-Reddit for the community to answer. And these come mainly in two forms: questions about professional practice; and requests from clients for treatment advice.
The latter is interesting, not least because it’s clear the questioner doesn’t trust the advice they’d been given by their professional. But it’s the former that, I think, give us some great insights into physiotherapy today.
Here’s are some examples of recent posts:
In what ways is working different to studying? How much of the content do you actually use on a day to day basis? New physio student here and feeling incredibly overwhelmed by the amount of work presented to me and really second guessing my decision (link);
Is studying for medical school specializing in Orthopedic harder than Physiotherapy? (Link) - the comment thread for this one is particularly interesting;
How do I specialise? Uk undergrad physiotherapy student, thinking very far ahead but wondering what extra qualifications or education I would need to become a specialist. For example osteoarthritis or hands in general (Link);
Any advice for trying to build and maintain a patient caseload (Link)?
Unlike a lot of other social media platforms, the advice offered is generally very thoughtful, empathic, and constructive. There is a real sense of a question genuinely asked, and advice generously given.
There’s a Ph.D. thesis in analysing what this might tell us about the current state of physiotherapy, but there are some things that I think stand out:
We’re in a different age of expertise now, where the specialised knowledge is becoming more diffuse, and therefore, presumably, less specialised;
That this is welcomed by the posters, who are looking for people’s contributions, thoughts, and suggestions, not black and white answers;
That diversity of opinions definitely exists about what makes for good physiotherapy, and that its innate complexities are valued.
Reddit, like all forms of social media, has its faults and its detractors, but I’ve found it a consistently powerful source of thoughts and ideas about physiotherapy over the years. If you haven’t come across it yet, you might find it interesting.