Overwhelming support for Physiopedia from the global profession at WCPT Congress

Last week Physiopedia was in Amsterdam for World Physical Therapy 2011, and what a great event it was!  A total of 5274 physical therapists and physiotherapists attended the event, making it one of the biggest congresses in WCPT’s history. The scene was set by the grand Olympic style opening ceremony at which we were graced by a Dutch Princess, watched an outstanding performance by a pair performers with the most awesome core stability, listened to a specially created anthem from a solo vocalist that entered on wires from the ceiling, and watched a virtual tulip blossom following the great speeches of our keynote presenters.  Over the three days, thousands of physiotherapists shared their knowledge, learned new skills, gained new ideas, and made new friends and networks.

This once every four years international meeting was a great opportunity for us to meet our international editors and users. We had a stand in the exhibition hall, which was easily identifiable by the big blue hands (!!), where we were able to meet up with people, give the Physiopedia tour and demo, and answer any questions that people had for us. The response that we received for the Physiopedia project has been totally overwhelming!  There is so much enthusiasm, positive energy and support for this project  from all corners of the globe, from students through to VIP’s from out profession, that we can be sure that Physiopedia is here to stay!

Join Physiopedia at WCPT Congress in Amsterdam – look for the blue hands!

Here at Physiopedia HQ we are beginning to get really excited about the WCPT Congress in Amsterdam in June.  This once every four years event is a great opportunity for us to meet many of our international editors, users and fans. To make it easy for you all to find us we will have a stand in the exhibition hall, just look for the blue hands!  Here you will be able to meet the team, have a tour and demo of Physiopedia, ask us questions and give us any feedback or suggestions that you might have for us, after all this is a global collaborative effort by the profession for the profession.

There will also be several presentations related to Physiopedia at Congress so please do come along to learn a bit more about what Physiopedia is all about:

• Rachael Lowe, Founder and Director of Physiopedia, will be presenting a platform session. “Physiopedia – An International Collaborative Project for the Physiotherapy Profession” will give a brief overview of this international non-profit project.
• Elaine Lonnemann will be presenting her poster – Expanding the Physical Therapy Classroom Through the Use of an International Wiki
• Bhanu Ramaswamy will also be presenting her poster – The AGILE project: Using and international wiki to engage and develop clinical understanding and reasoning of physiotherapy with older people.

In addition Rachael will also be presenting on the discussion panel “Can new information technologies add value to physical therapy practice and outcomes?” In recent years wireless technology and improved battery life have extended the reach of information. Tweeting, blogging, chatting and open source publishing have been added to the resources of email, the internet and mobile phones. How do these technologies and applications affect the availability and quality of information and how can they best be used to benefit the public as well as the profession.  Chair, Simon Crompton (WCPT Secretariat), will attempt to manage the panel members, Rachael Lowe (United Kingdom), Neil Pakenham Walsh (United Kingdom), Lisbeth Eriksson (Sweden), Lisa Harvey (Australia), in what is likely to be a lively discussion!