At times it can be overwhelming if we are new to clinical practice and/or dealing with an injury that we don't often see. This overwhelm can sometimes send us down the wrong path when it comes to our working diagnosis, resulting in wasted time, money, and lead to prolonged recovery times, frustration and potentially, a damaged therapeutic relationship. Today I want to share a basic framework that, at the very least, will help you develop a systematic way to assess a musculoskeletal region to hone your diagnostics.   Diagnostics, the WHAT, HOW & WHY In developing an accurate working di ..read more

Recently I shared some insights on the clinical utility of the Foot Posture Index (FPI) - find the podcast episode here. Within this episode I discussed how I find the FPI and Supination Resitance Test useful when it comes to making footwear recommendations, as well as identifying some appropriate orthoses prescription variables to include in a script. Today, I want to dive a little deeper into the Supination Resistance Test. WHAT it is, WHY we would potentially use it, and HOW to perform the test.   What is the Supination Resistance Test? The Supination Resistance Test (SRT) is a clinica ..read more

When we're in the initial stages of working with a client suffering a musculoskeletal injury, one of the hardest questions we can be faced with is; "At this point in time does my client need to reduce or increase their load exposure?" The reason this is such an important question to ask is that we know injuries need movement in order to facilitate the healing & functional restoration process, it's the timing and magnitude of load that we need to introduce that can often pose a problem. When clients are self-managing their injury or a clinician lacks confidence in managing musculoskeletal p ..read more

One of the most nuanced challenges faced by clinicians is aligning optimal treatment recommendations with the financial realities of our patients. Today we're exploring some strategies that may help us navigate working within the potential financial constraints of our patients, without compromising the quality of care. Last year, I shared an article that built the foundation of this topic; Building Confidence when Discussing Treatment Cost (read here). This article outlined a number of insights and strategies aimed to help build a clinician's confidence when having these discussions. Today I w ..read more

It's that time of year again, when we see final-year university students beginning to explore employment opportunities, not to mention established clinicians are often getting over the EOFY hump and reflecting on where they want to be moving forward. Whilst you will never know 100% if a job is right for you until you're in it, there are a number of things you can reflect on and consider to help better identify if the job has the potential to align with what you need to thrive in the role. Today we're getting a little philosophical, sharing a few ideas from a 90,000+ word project I have underwa ..read more

One of the biggest learning experiences clinicians will (hopefully) have in their career is developing the understanding that we DON'T know it all and we CAN'T be it all for our clients. The true mark of a skilled clinician often goes beyond the immediate treatments that we provide. It's also characterised by the understanding of when and how to lean on the expertise of others. There are a number of elements that feed into clinicians being resistant to referring-on or introducing another clinician/provider or subject matter expert into the equation, a genuine want or feeling of responsibility ..read more

There's a multitude of reasons when the typical sets & reps for exercise prescription may not be appropriate. In recent articles & podcasts I've touched on AMRAP for TIME, today, we'll be doing a deeper dive into what it is, when we may utilise this option, and how we may program it (for rehab). What Is AMRAP? AMRAP - As Many Reps As Possible This method sees a person complete as many repetitions of a given exercise or circuit of exercises, in a set period of time.   Background AMRAP is more traditionally used in high-volume workouts in a strength & conditioning space (think ..read more

It is possible that in caring too much we may sabotage our treatment outcomes. If you're someone who feels uncomfortable discussing treatment costs with your clients, you may be inadvertently impacting the quality of care you provide. By getting more comfortable with discussing uncomfortable topics, we are able to improve the quality of our care.  I say this as someone who genuinely wishes I could work for free, because I wish that there was 100% equity in healthcare, that the best care wasn't available to only those with deeper pockets. I say this as someone who, after noticing at t ..read more

For many clinicians new to musculoskeletal pathology management, or those who work predominantly in general podiatry care, seeing a patient booked in for a musculoskeletal injury can be anxiety-inducing... If you're a clinician (or soon-to-be clinician) this article will help shed some light on how you can leverage your general podiatry practice to build some of the essential skills required for musculoskeletal pathology management (even if you don't have a large cohort of msk clients!).   Q: Why is General Podiatry Practice the BEST Place to Start? A: Because is takes some of the elemen ..read more

How can we get more information, more individualisation & more consistent outcomes to our musculoskeletal management plans? Read on... In clinical practice there is often disconnect between various elements. For example, diagnostic tests and exercise selection. Many clinicians may utilise a test to identify what pathology they are dealing with, however, many stumble when it comes to figuring out the selection and timing of the therapeutic interventions that may be beneficial to aid their client's recovery. This article hopes to guide you towards selecting more appropriate exercises for you ..read more