| Abstract/Notes |
The fundamental purpose of this text remains unchanged: to provide an introduction to the profession and practice of physical therapy for students in physical therapist and physical therapist assistant eduation programs. While this capitalizes on past successes,updtes are always necessary to keep abreast of the profession and maintain a fresh approach to the material. These are described below. several new cotributors have provided updates in data, photos, and descritions. In particular is the chapter on the Physical Therapist Assistant. John Kelly brings his experience as an active physical therapist assistant(PTA) in the clinic as well as the governance of the American Physical therpist association to this chapter. Assisted by Pam Riztline,who is a past director of a PTA education program,the content of this chapter reflects the current activities and issues thatpertain to the PTA. Some organizational changes are also incorporated into this edition. The chapter on Current Issues was omited. Issues that confront this profession change more rapidly than the cycle of text revisions,and it is misleading to keep outdated material in print. Pertinent issues that reflect the mostrecent evolution of this profession have been added to the end of the Historical Development section inthe fisrt chapter.For the same reason some documents havebeen omitted,and websites have been includedto direct the reader to the current version. I appreiate formal and informal feedback on the effectiveness of past editions from both instructors and students. I look forward to to the same for this one. |
