Based off of this article that I saw on StrengthCoach.com:
http://ptthinktank.com/2012/12/15/new-vision-role-for-the-physical-therapist-in-athlete-management-sportspt/comment-page-1/
What follows is my opinion:
Be afraid - be very afraid...
now that I have your attention
This is an opening salvo into PTs dictating scope of practice and changing the Strength and Conditioning world - IMO
I was a young ATC when State Licensure was being hammered out and watched the PTs try to dictate scope of practice to the ATCs - APTA recently settled out of court on a class action law suit over this reversing some of their attempts to dictate scope of practice to fellow allied health care professionals (ATCs).
http://www.nata.org/NR092509
PTs are going to start looking at the Personal Training and Strength and Conditioning field....
a field where people self-pay rates above what their co-pay for PT is typically - yet people will self pay for a personal trainer but not a Physical Therapy session
PTs will start to look at Personal Training and S&C as an income stream and try to gain access to those that self pay for services.
Licensure of some sort is coming to the personal training and S&C industry (hereafter the Fitness Industry or FI) and PTs will likely attempt to step in and offer direction and assistance in setting up state boards etc... and that is where the attempts to dictate scope of practice will begin and it may end with the people in the FI being clipboard carrying rep counters only able to "follow the conditioning plan" approved by the PT.
(this will obviously not be true in all cases but....)
the FI is an unregulated "free for all"
400+ certifying bodies
(some of them $99 on-line certs for KB training and yoga...)
No standard operating procedures
No standard of education and certification
State licensure is coming In My Opinion and the FI industry is unprepared (also IMO)
So an unregulated industry with no SOP, no education or certification standard and With popular franchises with high injury rates, "biggest loser" style beat downs and patients going into PT from the FI it isn't hard to figure out that the profession higher up the medical food chain (PTs) will be primed to step in and dictate to the FI
PTs are the experts at orthopedic rehabilitation, neuro and geriatric and pediatric rehab, even wound care
But they do not "know" exercise the way some of the FI do, the same as most DR's have no ownership of exercise information etc...
The FI is in a precarious situation IMO
the question is what will the FI do about it???
Will the FI develop SOP and a standard education and certification?
Not likely since there are LARGE sums of money made by the large number of certifying bodies out there
Will it boil down to just NCAA approved certifications??
Happy Sunday to you all... I am a ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day - at least when it comes to this subject but I hope I am wrong.
BTW - I do feel that ATC would be ideally placed and skilled to take on the roll of being involved in the S&C programs and that they should already be involved
