Clinical research is vital in the field of physiotherapy. Physiotherapists rely on information from research to augment the knowledge they have already gained through their university education and continuing education courses.
Physiotherapists use what is called “evidence-based practise” as the foundation for their treatments. This is based on quality controlled scientific research and clinical reasoning. Clinical research helps the practitioner keep up to date with the latest in practice methods. Armed with the knowledge gained from clinical research, physiotherapists can demonstrate that the methods we use to treat our patients are based on empirical evidence, subjected to peer review and shown to have sound clinical reasoning behind their principles.
There is a great deal of clinical research being performed in physiotherapy today as has been the case for many decades. By regularly updating our skills and taking on broad new evidence-based research, physiotherapists are at the cutting edge of developments in the health industry and we have the scientific evidence to back up our treatment methods.