What makes a good physio?

We take a look at what separates the best Physiotherapists from the rest.

A physiotherapist (physio) is a primary contact health professional practitioner which means you do not need a referral to see one.

They have a responsibility to you to provide an accurate as possible diagnosis and appropriate treatment of your particular injury or condition.

A physiotherapist’s main role is to improve your pain and/or movement deficiencies so that you are able to achieve and return to pre-injury functional goals of daily living.

If you participate in a sporting activity, physiotherapists can help prevent injury or help you to get back to the level of sport or activity you had prior to your injury.

There are many factors that can make a good physiotherapist.

There are some basic fundamental criteria that contribute to the professionality of a physiotherapist. These fundamentals are:

• Accredited – this can be in the form of APA (Australian Physiotherapist Association) membership
• Professionally presented (practice and individuals)
• Available outside traditional business hours/ client friendly times
• Easily contactable

The next most important factors that make up a good physiotherapist are up to date clinical knowledge combined with great interpersonal skills. These two things are both equally important and one can be rendered useless without the other.

A vital role of a physiotherapist is to acquire information from clients to understand their injury or condition. This can only be ascertained if the physiotherapist is a good communicator and a good listener!

The physiotherapist will gather enough information from you about your injury or condition through questioning which will aid in their clinical decision making about your injury.

If there is a good balance between strong communication skills and good clinical knowledge then this should translate to good treatment outcomes.

Physiotherapists that have been noted to be excellent in their profession also possess qualities of compassion, caring and going the extra mile to ensure that their patient is well informed about their condition and what is going to make them better. If a patient knows this then they are more likely to be motivated to carry out the rehabilitation plan.

As the human body is a very complex machine with many different working parts it is not uncommon for Physiotherapists to specialise into certain streams of practice.

These streams may include:

• Musculoskeletal – Neck, back and joint pain as well as muscular strains
• Women’s health,
• Paediatrics (kids),
• Cardiovascular (heart health)
• Neurology
• Aged care
• Sports injuries
• as well as potentially being even more specialised to a particular joint or area of the body.(as our specialist Physiotherapist Michael Vadiveloo has done with knees and his Knee Clinic.)

With all of this in mind what makes a good physio is ultimately one that is able to fulfill the role of helping people get better and return to their pre-injury state as soon as possible!

Get in touch to find out more.