Physiopedia vs Medpedia
A new wiki for health care was launched this week called Medpedia, take a look, it’s incredibly impressive and comprehensive, and is likely to become the key reference for the public on medical matters.
You may be wondering why we need Physiopedia when Medpedia is available? Well these are my thoughts in this regard. With Medpedia being driven by doctors it will not truly represent our profession. It is primarily focused on educating the general public with good quality information about conditions that affect them, also providing a place for professionals to publish their work and create a profile. Physiopedia also offers the opportunity for therapy professionals to publish their work and create a profile, however Physiopedia is also an educational resource aimed specifically at the physio/physical therapy profession. It will provide evidence based information for physiotherapists relating to common conditions, interventions and management options that we come across in our daily practice. With Physiopedia we aim to truly represent, promote, educate and develop the physio/physical therapy profession. So the emphasis of Physiopedia is on developing the profession which is significantly different to Medpedias’ emphasis on informing the public.
So, while Medpedia may be getting all the press right now, Physiopedia maintains its awesome potential to be a great resource for physiotherapists. But, just as the Medpedia sites grows as more contributions by authors are made, Physiopedia needs your content. Come on physios! If the medical community can do it, then so can we. Let’s show them just how valuable our profession is.
Join in the Physiopedia efforts and come collaborate with us!! www.physio-pedia.com
Physiopedia for Students
Tyler Shultz, a physical Therapy student from the Medical College of Georgia, has been using Physiopedia in a new and novel way. He has been using it to study for his orthopaedic classes and in doing so, not only has it been a valuable learning and reference tool for him, but he has also helped to develop this resource for therapists worldwide.
Tyler explains his experiences with Physiopedia by saying “I have been using Physiopedia as a platform to review my anatomy and foundational physical therapy knowledge (like with the GH and AC joint pages) as well as a place to post information about the special tests I have learned more recently in my ortho class (see Hawkins/Kennedy Test). I have quickly discovered that posting to Physiopedia has forced me to constantly review my notes from class, texts, and peer-reviewed articles for relevant information and data, and in doing so I am studying and more importantly, learning the information because I am reproducing, practicing, and constantly re-reading it. In addition, once the information I post to Physiopedia is live on the web, it is extremely easy and quick to reference during class or when I am studying (and I know it is correct!). I have found the wiki-based style of Physiopedia easy to learn and understand, which makes posting to Physiopedia worth the time and effort to do so. And because Physiopedia is evidence-based, it is forcing me to become more efficient (and effective) at finding evidence-based research studies and resources related to the topics I am learning about, which will be extremely beneficial for me in my future career as a physical therapist”.
We are very grateful to Tyler for his contributions and hope that in time many more physical and physio therapists will join us in the creation of this great resource. If there are any other students out there that would like to use Physiopedia, please mention where you are a student when registering for your account or you can contact me directly for further advice.
