Get on the Twitter train

Ironically, the best thing I was told in this entire degree was to get on Twitter. Not because I have reached physiotherapy enlightenment by reading all the tweets, not because it has taught me anything ground-breaking that UTS didn’t cover and not because I have followed a certain guru and learnt all the secret techniques… no! The best thing that being on Twitter has done for me is that it has stoked the furnace.

By this, I mean that every time I scroll through Twitter I find a thread on something I find interesting. This thread then has a heap of different therapists providing their opinions on the matter. Of course, everything you read has to be with a grain of salt. You certainly cannot take anything on Twitter as gospel. But it certainly exposes you to a tone of different ideas and approaches to a similar problem.

The other day, I read a thread with Seth O’Neil and Jill Cook discussing the use of isometrics and progression criteria in a rehab program from lower limb tendinopathies. Now both these guys are heavy hitters in the tendon universe, so to get an insight into their thoughts on the matter is really cool! Did I learn anything usefully clinically? Maybe, maybe not. But that’s not the point. The point is that you are involved in a community that constantly challenges ideas, and as future physiotherapists I believe it is important to be there reading, watching and commenting (if you’re brave enough!).

Personally, I haven’t quite got around to doing this yet, but I can also see a great opportunity to network with other physios who you would like too. I’ve even seen plenty of job adverts on Twitter and opportunities for research.

It is also an excellent place to keep up with the latest research. Often you will find discussions regarding the latest research and what it means. Generally, someone will post a link to the full article as well which is handy when you are out of uni. Again, reading real time critiques of these papers and sometimes comments specifically from the authors themselves gives it all a sense of realness that I enjoy.

So, I implore you all to purchase a ticket and board the Twitter train. You won’t want to hop off.

Learn more about Physiotherapy at the Graduate School of Health.