It is in the Physician/Resident Forum under PM&R and this was my response...
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I am a DPT, and I would like to respectfully disagree w/ many of your comments.
At medicinesux: Yes, the DPT has been around for about 10 years now, and no one seemed to care about this until the profession started it's direct access push. I'm curious as to why you think there will be a turf war. What is it we as PTs are trying to do that encrouches on what PM&R physicians do?
At PMR 4 MSK: You say that we, as PTs, need to establish ourselves in regards to the musculoskeletal system. I believe there was a study done in recent years where physicians in different areas of practice, and PTs were all tested on their musculoskeletal knowledge base and the PTs scored 2nd highest behind the orthopedic surgeons. I do believe PTs, along w/ Orthos and PM&R are the musculoskeletal experts, as well as DCs when speaking about the spine.
I think Colin summarizes the general purpose of the DPT, and it's just the expanded level of education in the PT programs that is being taught. I don't look at it as the PT profession trying to crossover into the physicians roles, it's just the profession becoming, as a whole, better practitioners.
Common complaints are "why do PTs need to know how to read radiographs, understand medications, etc." It's so that we know how to best treat this patient in regards to their condition, as well as understand common side-effects associated w/ medications and how they may affect that patients treatment. It is NOT to be able to one day order imaging studies, or prescribe medications, but to understand them better.
At ASUAZCOM and others: I do not believe the primary motivation for offering the DPT program is to be able to increase tuition. All tuition rates across the country are increasing, and those associated w/ PT programs have not increased anymore due to the change to DPT programs (no more than any other program).
At TUCOMSam and others: Just FYI, most DPTs DO NOT introduce themselves as "Dr. so and so." They introduce themselves as "Dr. <insert last name>"...just kidding. No, in all seriousness, we are actually taught in PT school that it is unethical for our profession to go by Dr. X, and the only time a PT should go by Dr. is if they have a Ph.D or some other degree that would warrant them to be called doctor. So the PTs that do go by Dr., do so after they have been instructed otherwise by their school. Again, I do not believe our profession actually wants to order imaging studies, we learn about this in order to be able to better interpret them in regards to patient care. I think many PT student misunderstand this and think they should be able to order them.
At Socrates25: I think your post regarding the DPT is very aggressive to say the least. There are significant differences between the PM&R physician and PT. In a best case scenario, these two professions should work very closer together to treat the patient in the best way possible. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. I often have a VERY difficult time speaking w/ or contacting physicians and often times must speak w/ the RN, who in most cases, does not have a clue what I am talking about in regards to this patient. To say that money is the primary reason for the push is very insulting.
At TUCOMSam: Great post about direct access. Many states already allow this and 1 or 2 have done so for a very long time. We as PTs do not want direct access to "get a piece of the pie" per say, but to have faster access to patients w/ musculoskeletal issues that we can easily treat while in the acute and subacute stages vs the later chronic stages. There are many studies out there showing how much better outcomes are (specifically LBP) when the patient was seen by a PT within 2 weeks of initial injury vs being seen 4, 6 and 12 weeks following injury.
At eljefe: Again, the push for direct access is not about expanding our scope of practice. Our practice will never change from the treatment of neuomusculoskeletal issues in regards to function. If this were the case, I would say you have all the right in the world to disagree, but it isn't. It's all about patient care, and doing what is best for the patient. If that includes faster access to PT services, then it should be allowed without them having to see 1, 2, and sometimes 3 different physicians before being seen by a PT.
I definately understand where most of you are coming from w/ your concerns/complaints. However I believe many of them are based on assumptions and "rumors" that are not entirely true. I do believe there are many PTs out there that want to use their level of education to their advantage and falsely represent themselves to patients. Yes, we are Doctors of Physical Therapy, however this only indicates a level of education and does not indicate the desire to proclaim ourselves as Physicians, MDs, DOs, etc. Our desire to learn and gain a greater knowledge base, especially in the areas of pharmacology, imaging, differential diagnosis (mechanical vs pathological), etc is not so that we can some day consider ourselves equal w/ the physician, it is so that we can be better prepared to treat these patients that are becoming more and more complex all the time.
I believe it is wrong to talk in a negative manner about a profession, especially one that is trying to better itself. To say this is wrong is like telling a professional athlete that he is too good and he needs to play at the level of the rest of the athletes."
