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Objective To evaluate whether multiple sessions of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied to the primary motor (M1) cortex paired with aerobic exercise can improve walking functions in multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods MS participants were recruited for a double‐blind, parallel‐arm, randomized, sham‐controlled trial and assigned to 10 sessions (5 d/wk for 2 weeks) of either active or sham tDCS paired with unloaded cycling for 20 minutes. Stimulation was administered over the left M1 cortex (2.5 mA; anode over C3/cathode over FP2). Gait spatiotemporal parameters were assessed using a wearable inertial sensor (10‐meter and 2‐minute walking tests). Measurements were collected at baseline, end of tDCS intervention, and 4‐week postintervention to test for duration of any benefits. Results A total of 15 participants completed the study, nine in the active and six in the sham condition. The active and sham groups were matched according to gender (50% vs. 40% female), neurologic disability (median EDSS 5.5 vs. 5), and age (mean 52.1 ± 12.9 vs. 53.7 ± 9.8 years). The active group had a significantly greater increase in gait speed (0.87 vs. 1.20 m/s, p

INTRODUCTION Balance and fall risk before and after lumbar surgery was assessed to determine whether balance at baseline predicts long-term postsurgical outcomes. METHODS Forty-three patients in the United States and Israel performed the single-leg stance (SLS) test, four square step test (FSST), and 8-foot up-and-go (8FUG) test before and 2 to 4 months after lumbar spine surgery. They completed the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and pain rating before and 12 months after lumbar surgery. RESULTS From baseline to follow-up, the SLS time was 3.74 seconds longer (P = 0.01), the FSST time was 1.94 seconds faster (P < 0.001), and the 8FUG time was 1.55 seconds faster (P = 0.02). Before surgery, 26% of the patients were considered high fall risk according to the FSST and 51% according to the 8FUG. Postsurgery, all patients could complete the physical tests, but 26% remained at high fall risk according to the 8FUG and 7.5% according to the FSST. The three physical measures together explained 30% of the variance in postsurgical ODI scores (P = 0.02). Age was not correlated with performance. DISCUSSION Risk of falling is higher than surgeons suspect. Balance tests (ie, SLS, FSST, and 8FUG) are quick and easy to administer. The findings support the importance of screening for balance and fall risk in adults undergoing lumbar spine surgery.

Although the physical therapist profession is the leading established, largely nonpharmacological health profession in the world and is committed to health promotion and noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention, these have yet to be designated as core physical therapist competencies. Based on findings of 3 Physical Therapy Summits on Global Health, addressing NCDs (heart disease, cancer, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, obesity, and chronic lung disease) has been declared an urgent professional priority. The Third Summit established the status of health competencies in physical therapist practice across the 5 World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) regions with a view to establish health competency standards, this article's focus. Three general principles related to health-focused practice emerged, along with 3 recommendations for its inclusion. Participants acknowledged that specific competencies are needed to ensure that health promotion and NCD prevention are practiced consistently by physical therapists within and across WCPT regions (ie, effective counseling for smoking cessation, basic nutrition, weight control, and reduced sitting and increased activity/exercise in patients and clients, irrespective of their presenting complaints/diagnoses). Minimum accreditable health competency standards within the profession, including use of the WCPT-supported Health Improvement Card, were recommended for inclusion into practice, entry-to-practice education, and research. Such standards are highly consistent with the mission of the WCPT and the World Health Organization. The physical therapist profession needs to assume a leadership role vis-à-vis eliminating the gap between what we know unequivocally about the causes of and contributors to NCDs and the long-term benefits of effective, sustained, nonpharmacological lifestyle behavior change, which no drug nor many surgical procedures have been reported to match.

A growing body of literature supports the promising effect of real-time feedback to re-train runners. However, no studies have comprehensively assessed the effects of foots trike and cadence modification using different forms of real-time feedback provided via wearable devices.The purpose of the present study was to determine if a change could be made in foot strike pattern and plantar loads using real-time visual, auditory and combined feedback provided using wearable devices.Visual, auditory and combined feedback were provided using wearable devices as fifteen recreational runners ran on a treadmill at self-selected speed and increased cadence. Plantar loads and location of initial contact were measured with a flexible insole system. Repeated measures ANOVAs with Bonferroni adjusted pair-wise comparisons were used to assess statistical significance.A significant effect of condition was noted on location of center of pressure (p 0.01). Bonferroni-adjusted post-hoc comparisons showed that feedback conditions differed from baseline as well as the new cadence conditions, however did not differ from each other. A significant interaction effect (region x feedback) was found for plantar loads (maximum force P 0.001). Significant effects of feedback were noted at the heel (P 0.001), medial midfoot (P 0.001), lateral midfoot (P 0.001), medial forefoot (P = 0.003), central forefoot (P = 0.003), and great toe (P = 0.004) but not at the lateral forefoot (P = 0.6) or lateral toes (P = 0.507).The unique findings of our study showed that an anterior shift of the center of pressure, particularly when foot strike modification was combined with 10% increased cadence. We found lower heel and midfoot loads along with higher forefoot and great toe loads when foot strike modification using real-time feedback was combined with increased cadence. Our findings also suggest that auditory feedback might be more effective than visual feedback in foot-strike modification.

Background and Purpose.The integrated model of clinical education has been incorporated into the educational curricula of various professions for decades. Currently, however, there is variability among physical therapist education programs in the use and design of such models. This position paper wi

This study investigated the effect of knee joint ice application on vertical ground reaction forces (VGRF), knee angle (KA), and jump height (JH) during a single-leg drop jump in 20 healthy participants randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. VGRF were measured using a force plate, KA was measured using an electrogoniometer, and JH was derived from VGRF. After the pretests, a crushed-ice bag was applied to the experimental group participants for 20 minutes, whereas the control group rested. All participants were retested immediately and again after 20 minutes of rest. Significant decreases in average braking phase VGRF (–0.18±0.14 body weight) and increases in contact time (51±39 ms) were found after icing. In addition, several nonsignificant trends toward force reduc tion were identified. These findings support the statement that when athletes return to competition after icing, an altered neuromuscular behavior might lead to potential re-injury situations.

This article represents the deliberations that took place at the June 2011 meeting of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) during a panel that was convened to discuss ‘Evidence-based Exercise Prescription: Raising the Standard of Delivery’. The panel consisted of five physical therapists and one exercise physiologist. After introductory remarks by the panel chair, each of the other participants was given the opportunity to do an opening presentation. Several questions (Should physical therapists be exercise experts? Are physical therapists truly the exercise experts they should be? Has physical therapist education prepared them to be exercise experts?) were then posed to the panelists for their response. After those responses, the floor was opened up to the audience for response and input. A verbatim transcript of the proceedings enabled audience participation to be reflected.

INTRODUCTION The roots of the physical therapist education reach back through the ages. The development of physical therapy as an autonomous profession based on current scientific knowledge was in large part due to Per Henrik Ling of Sweden. In 1813, he founded the Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics (RCIG) in Stockholm for the training of gymnastic instructors. With the founding of RCIG, Ling provided a professional identity for the physical therapist. Thereafter, physical therapist education evolved in different ways around the world. In the United Kingdom, it was through the Society of Trained Masseuses. In Norway and Finland, it was influenced by the work of Ling, with an emphasis on massage training. In the United States, it was as a result of the polio epidemics and the need to treat those wounded during World War I. The World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) has established standards and guidelines for physical therapist entrylevel education that are globally relevant and available to all on its Web site. They include the "WCPT Policy Statement: Education" and the 5 WCPT guidelines related to physical therapist professional entry-level education ("WCPT Guidelines for Physical Therapist Professional Entry-Level Education"; "WCPT Guideline for Qualifications of Faculty for Physical Therapist Professional Entry-level Education Programs"; "WCPT Guideline for the Clinical Education Component of Physical Therapist Professional Entry-level Education"; "WCPT Guideline for Curricula for Physical Therapists Delivering Quality Exercise Programs Across the Life Span"; and "Guideline for a Standard Evaluation Process for Accreditation/Recognition of Physical Therapist Professional Entry-level Education Program"). Consideration of physical therapist education across member organizations in each of the 5 WCPT regions clearly demonstrates that major diversity exists in physical therapist entry-level professional education around the world. THE ROOTS The roots of the profession of physical therapy may have begun as early as 3,000 BC, with evidence that the Chinese practiced massage. Hippocrates (460-377 BC) made reference to friction massage.1 The use of therapeutic exercise and massage in the 16th century occurred when the Greeks realized that physical health and spiritual health were inseparable. An Italian physician, Gerolamo Mercuriale, used exercise both hygienically and curativeIy in the 1500s.2 In Sweden in the early 19th century, Pehr Henrik Ling combined massage and rhythmic exercises for health benefits.3 In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, there are references to correcting childhood deformities with splinting, massage, and prosthetics; treating patients with a stroke by reawakening the weakened control of the brain through motion; and using a regime of gymnastics and massage to treat scoliosis.4 BEGINNINGS OF PHYSICAL THERAPIST EDUCATION IN SWEDEN The profession of physical therapy developed in Sweden first as an autonomous profession based on the scientific knowledge of the day due to Pehr Henrik Ling (Figure 1), who has been called the "Father of Swedish Gymnastics." Ling, originally a graduate of the Vaxjo gymnasium (1792) and a fencing master, went on to study theology at Lund and Uppsala Universities. While traveling abroad after graduation, he met a Chinese individual (Ming) who instructed Ling in martial arts and tui na. Ling acquired further knowledge in England, Germany, and France that expanded Ming's special "gymnastics" or exercises and were aimed at enhancing stamina, strength, and flexibility- requisites for Ling's fencing. Ling returned to Sweden as a result of overuse injuries and "rheumatism" and healed himself using the exercises that he had acquired. He was appointed as a fencing master at Uppsala. Appreciating how the exercises had restored his health, he understood the importance of using exercises for the health of others. …

During sporting events, injured athletes often return to competition after icing because of the reduction in pain. Although some controversy exists, several studies suggest that cryotherapy causes a decrease in muscle activity, which may lead to a higher risk of injury upon return to play. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a 20-min knee joint cryotherapy application on the electromyographic activity of leg muscles during a single-leg drop jump in twenty healthy subjects, randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group. After the pre-tests, a crushed-ice bag was applied to the knee joint of the experimental group subjects for 20 min, while the control group subjects rested for 20 min. All subjects were retested immediately after this period and retested again after another 20 min of rest. Average electromyographic activity and ground contact time were calculated for the pre- and post-test sessions. Decreases in electromyographic activity of the lower extremity musculature were found in pre-activation, eccentric (braking), and concentric (push-off) phases immediately after the icing, and after 20 min of rest. The results lend support to the suggestion that cryotherapy during sporting events may place the individuals in a vulnerable position.

Marilyn Moffat, PT, PhD, FAPTA, CSCSDr Moffat has had a tremendous impact on the physical therapy profession as a visionary leader, a distinguished educator, and an accomplished clinician, administrator, and researcher. She has served as editor of Physical Therapy and, as an elected member of APTA's House of Delegates, has been instrumental in providing direction for the future of the profession. She has served as a member of innumerable committees, task forces, and boards of directors at every level within the Association. In 1991, she was elected President of APTA for the first of 2 consecutive terms.As President, Dr Moffat spearheaded the development of the Association's Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, and she later served as a project editor of the Guide's second edition and was heavily involved in the development of the Interactive Guide on CD-ROM. Dr Moffat has worked tirelessly since 1977, when she first spoke about the professional doctoral degree for physical therapists, to lead the profession through a process of redefining the role of the physical therapist for the future and ensuring that the highest level of practice would be achieved as a requisite for assuming the title “Doctor of Physical Therapy.”As a delegate to the World Confederation for Physical Therapy, Dr Moffat has provided leadership to the international community of physical therapists. She served as APTA's voting delegate to the WCPT General Meeting, on the Executive Committee of the WCPT as the North America/Caribbean Region representative, and as a member of the Task Force on the International Definition of Physical Therapy. Dr Moffat has given more than 800 professional presentations worldwide and has taught and consulted in Taiwan, Thailand, Burma, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Wuhan in China. For her demonstrated worldwide leadership in physical therapy, she was honored with WCPT's Mildred Elson Award for International Leadership in Physical Therapy.Dr Moffat has been the recipient of many APTA honors and awards. She has been recognized with APTA's Lucy Blair Service Award and as a Catherine Worthingham Fellow. She has received 2 diversity awards from the Advisory Panel on Minority Affairs, the R Charles Harker Policy Maker Award from APTA's Health Policy and Administration Section, and the Robert Dicus Outstanding Service Award from APTA's Private Practice Section. The most significant acknowledgments of her lifelong commitment to service are the New York Chapter's Dr Marilyn Moffat Distinguished Service Award and APTA's newly created Marilyn Moffat Leadership Award.

Physical therapy practice in the United States evolved around two major historical events: the poliomyelitis epidemics of the 1800s through the 1950s and the effects of the ravages of several wars. Marguerite Sanderson and Mary McMillan were the first two individuals involved in the training of "reconstruction aides" responsible for caring for those individuals wounded in World War I. Poliomyelitis raged throughout the country in the 1920s and 1930s. The primary modes of treatment were isolation, immobilization, splinting, bed rest, and later surgery. During World War II, drastic improvements in medical management and surgical techniques led to increasing numbers of survivors with disabling ivar wounds. In 1940, Sister Elizabeth Kenny brought her treatment techniques for the management of patients with poliomyelitis to the United States. The passage of the Hospital Survey and Construction Act of 1946, the "Hill Burton Act," led to an increase in hospital-based practice for physical therapists. The Korean War again challenged physical therapists with the treatment of those with disabilities related to war wounds. The Salk vaccine virtually eradicated poliomyelitis in the United States by 1961. The role of the physical therapist progressed increasingly in the 1950s from that of a technician to a professional practitioner. Amendments to the Social Security Act (SSA) in 1967 added a definition of "outpatient physical therapy senices." Increasing numbers of states enacted such practice acts during the 1950s and 1960s. The practice of physical therapy for patients with neuromuscular disorders dramatically changed. In the 1960s and 1970s, cardiopulmonary physical therapist practice expanded with increasing chest physical therapy programs for pre- and postoperative patients. With the expansion of joint replacements, new avenues for orthopedic physical therapist practice emerged. The 1970s and 1980s saw the increased opportunities for practice with the implementation of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules and regulations, the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142), and the AIDS epidemic. Physical therapists began providing services in the areas of women's health, oncology, and hand rehabilitation. Specialty certification was developed. In the 1990s, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research led to new opportunities for practice. Physical therapists were faced with the challenges of increasing governmental cost savings, decreasing reimbursement, increasing governmental regulations, the influences of the insurance industry and corporate America, and the sudden personnel supply exceeding demand for services. In the new millennium, the American Physical Therapy Association developed the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, the CD-ROM version of the Guide, and the "Hooked-on-Evidence" project. Most states had some form of direct access, and bills were introduced on Capitol Hill to allow Medicare patients direct access to physical therapist services. THE BEGINNINGS Physical therapist practice evolved around two major historical events: the poliomyelitis epidemics in the United States and the effects of the ravages of war upon US citizens. The first US epidemics were recorded in Boston, Mass, in 1893 and in Rutland, Vt, in 1894, with approximately 132 cases reported.1 The poliomyelitis virus was identified by two Austrian physicians, Dr Karl Landsteiner and Dr E Popper, in 1908. In 1909, Massachusetts became the first state to begin counting the number of poliomyelitis cases.2 The first major outbreak of poliomyelitis occurred in 1916 with over 9,000 cases in New York State alone. Medicine utilized the prevailing treatment methods of the time, quarantine and isolation. The accepted treatment of patients typically involved long-term splinting and casting to immobilize the limbs or the spine, combined with prolonged bed rest. …

The purpose of this article is to look at the business practices of physical therapy academic administrators in this millennium. The roles must encompass ever-expanding market analyses, assessment of competition, marketing, financial management, fund raising, and determining ways to satisfy their consumers-their students. The business practices will include developing the description of the physical therapy education program, market analyses, marketing, competition, operations, management/faculty/staff, financial management, contracts, servicing the customers/consumers, and resources. A yearly SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis and use of the SWOT matrixes will help the program to analyze fulfillment of its plan. Key Words: Commerce; Education, professional; Physical therapy. No doubt exists that the changes in the health care environment and in the ways in which health care is delivered have had their impact on physical therapy education. Reimbursement changes, supply and demand, right-sizing/downsizing, influence of corporate America, standards based less on tried and true and trial and error and more on evidence, technological developments, and increasing control by insurance companies to cite a few all have challenged physical therapy providers and educators as never before. With the costs of providing health services to our citizenry escalating once again to alarming rates, containing costs and yet providing the services that the American public has come to expect will provide increasing challenges to all of us. Our education programs, now graduating a practitioner with skills for autonomous practice, will have to instill the importance of providing the high quality of service that we expect of graduates with a thorough understanding of the need for containing costs. How to assure this quality of physical therapy service delivery in light of increasing emphasis on cost containment will present all of us with challenges in this millennium. And as much as some involved in health policy still speak about a national health insurance approach, the experiences in the United Kingdom and in Canada point out the fallacies in assuming this approach provides the cost-saving solutions to health care in the United States. Added to that is our incredibly diversified population that will continuously present challenges to using any one system to meet the needs of all. While the influence of big business in the provision of health services has not always led to the provision of the highest-quality services at an appropriate cost, many business principles are increasingly essential to a viable, productive physical therapy education program. And I would hope that we would select the best of those business practices that support the honesty and integrity of our activities, while shunning some of the worst practices that we have already seen in major health-related corporations. The roles of physical therapy academic administrators today and tomorrow must go well beyond those of curriculum and faculty development, providing input to the school or university's budget process, teaching, and scholarly activity. In this changing environment, the roles must encompass ever-expanding market analyses, assessment of competition, marketing, financial management, integration of all of the technological resources available, fund-raising, and determining ways to satisfy their consumers-their students. While we have watched swings in enrollments in physical therapy education programs since the beginnings of the profession in the United States, institutions of higher education are increasingly reluctant to continue to support programs that do not meet the student enrollments set by the institution. This will be increasingly so, because all of our programs will be at the doctoral graduate level. The potential for utilizing the global market as a base for potential students may be appealing; however, the changes in immigration rules and regulations will continue to make foreign student access to American education difficult at least through the beginning of the millennium. …

Background: To increase the global impact of health promotion related to non-communicable diseases, health professionals need evidence-based core competencies in health assessment and lifestyle behavior change. Assessment of health promotion curricula by health professional programs is a first step. Such program assessment is a means of 1. demonstrating collective commitment across health professionals to prevent non-communicable diseases; 2. addressing the knowledge translation gap between what is known about non-communicable diseases and their risk factors consistent with ‘best’ practice; and, 3. establishing core health-based competencies in the entry-level curricula of established health professions. Discussion: Consistent with the World Health Organization’s definition of health (i.e., physical, emotional and social wellbeing) and the Ottawa Charter, health promotion competencies are those that support health rather than reduce signs and symptoms primarily. A process algorithm to guide the implementation of health promotion competencies by health professionals is described. The algorithm outlines steps from the initial assessment of a patient’s/client’s health and the indications for health behavior change, to the determination of whether that health professional assumes primary responsibility for implementing health behavior change interventions or refers the patient/client to others. An evidence-based template for assessment of the health promotion curriculum content of health professional education programs is outlined. It includes clinically-relevant behavior change theory; health assessment/examination tools; and health behavior change strategies/interventions that can be readily integrated into health professionals’ practices. Summary: Assessment of the curricula in health professional education programs with respect to health promotion competencies is a compelling and potentially cost-effective initial means of preventing and reversing non-communicable diseases. Learning evidence-based health promotion competencies within an inter-professional context would help students maximize use of non-pharmacologic/non-surgical approaches and the contribution of each member of the health team. Such a unified approach would lead patients/clients to expect their health professionals to assess their health and lifestyle practices, and empower and support them in achieving lifelong health. Benefits of such curriculum assessment include a basis for reflection and discussion within and across health professional programs that could impact the epidemic of non-communicable diseases globally, through inter-professional education and evidence-based practice related to health promotion.

Cadaver dissection to study the anatomy of the scaleni muscles and surrounding structures.To analyze in depth the anatomy of the scaleni muscles and surrounding structures, and to further document anatomical variations which have been reported in the literature.The literature reported variations in the attachments of the scaleni muscles, as well as the presence of a scalenus minimus muscle. The importance of these muscles in the respiratory and musculoskeletal systems led us to study these muscles with dissection.We performed anatomical dissection on 10 cadavers. The findings from the cadavers were analyzed and reported.The attachments of the 3 primary scaleni muscles (anterior, medius, and posterior) were variable. The actual width of the scaleni muscles (anterior, medius, and posterior) at the C6 tubercle and at the first rib also varied. A scalenus minimus was present in one cadaver and presumably present in 2 others. The scalenus anterior muscle arose in 20% of the specimens from C3 to C6, in 30% of the specimens from C3 to C7, in 20% of the specimens from C4 to C5, and in 30% of the specimens from C4 to C6. The scalenus anterior muscle arose from C3 in 50% of the dissections. An attachment to C7 was observed in 30% of the cadavers. The widths of the scalenus anterior muscles at their insertion were between 8 and 17 mm. The scalenus medius muscle arose in 40% of the specimens from C2 to C6. In 60% of the cadavers, the scalenus medius muscle had an attachment to C7. Fifty percent of the scalenus medius muscles arose from C2 and 50% also had an origin from C1. The widths of the scalenus medius muscles at their insertion were between 10 and 20 mm with a mean of 15.5 mm. Fifty percent of the scalenus posterior muscles arose from C4 to C6 and 50% arose from C5 to C6.Variations were found in the attachments and the size of the scaleni muscles. These variations may effect the size of the scalene triangle, and thus, may potentially result in varied signs and symptoms in patients who have cervical, thoracic, and rib dysfunctions. Clinical implications were postulated.

Service to this wonderful profession and to this Association has been possible because of the love and support of so many. Many individuals have given their unflagging support for so many years. My thanks to all of the past and current members of our Board of Directors, who have truly been the driving force behind our activities; to the members of our House of Delegates, who set our course of action; to all at the component level, who help to steer much of our action and without whose support little would be possible; and to our Headquarters staff, without whose tireless efforts our accomplishments would, quite simply, not be possible. Countless others within the profession have been an integral part of my life, and to them I shall always be indebted for their mentorship, their expertise, their loyalty, and their friendship.

1921–1996—three quarters of a century of healing the generations; of tending to the needs of those afflicted with disease, disability, loss of function, and pain; and of preventing physical problems confronting our citizenry. What a spectacular time this is for the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) as we celebrate our diamond jubilee. The 75th anniversary is symbolized by the diamond—a pure, flawless stone of extreme hardness. The diamond connotes strength and durability; it represents on the one hand power and on the other hand beauty (Fig. 1). It has been indeed those qualities that have made this profession and this Association what they have been and what they will continue to be. Our history, our destiny, has been and will always be shaped by these qualities of resilience, skill, and magnificence.…

The purpose of this pilot study was determine the effects of soft tissue mobilization (STM) on range of motion (ROM), scar pliability, and vascularity. Patients received either one treatment session of standard physical therapy or standard physical therapy plus 10 to 15 minutes of STM. Before and after ROM, scar pliability and vascularity measurements were obtained. The student's t test was used to compare measurements and revealed the STM group (n = 5) had significant (p < 0.10) gains in wrist extension and radial deviation, and the control group (n = 5) had significant gains in wrist extension and ulnar deviation. No significant difference was found in ROM, scar pliability, and vascularity when the STM group was compared to the control group. Further study of a larger sample over multiple treatment sessions is necessary to determine the true efficacy of STM.

Good evening, colleagues from around the world, invited guests, family, and friends. It is indeed my pleasure to welcome you to this World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) Congress. What a wonderful occasion it is for us to gather here for this 1995 Congress and for the United States to have the honor of serving as your host country. I, like so many of my American colleagues, have family roots in far-off shores, and we share much of the ancestral heritage that so many of you bring from your countries to this Congress. The WCPT—like all associations, confederations, or leagues before it—arose as a result of a vision and as a result of a need.…

Good evening, my colleagues. This meeting marks the 73rd year in the history of our Association, and it is my pleasure to be given the opportunity to present this extended Presidential Address tonight. As my first term of office has drawn to a close, it seems fitting to take time to look back over the past 3 years and highlight some of the accomplishments of our Association. Even I was astounded at what we have done or are in the process of doing. Certainly, many truly dedicated physical therapists and physical therapist assistants have put in untold hours in making many of these activities possible. In the area of education, we must look at both public education and awareness as well as physical therapy education. To enhance public education and awareness, we changed PT Week to PT Month.…

Mr Puller,* colleagues, distinguished guests—it is indeed my pleasure to open this meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association in Cincinnati, Ohio, marking the 72nd year in the history of the Association. This is a most historic year in the life of the profession of physical therapy because it does mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the first education program for the training of physical therapists in this country. Thus, the central theme about which this address will be based is: Will the legacy of our past provide us with a legacy for the future? To answer that question, we must look at the evolution of our profession, from what appeared to us as technical status, to somewhere in between, and now to the brink of professionalism.…