Clinical Kit 100 - 23/12/2015 - Christmas Roundup & the APA
Christmas Wishes
It is coincidental that the 100th Edition of Clinical Kit falls at the end of this year. I have been writing these fortnightly emails for over a couple of years and have enjoyed immensely the feedback and support from AAP Education members over that time. Membership has grown to 3000 and we are continuing to offer an increased range of professional development training to clinicians around Australia (and occasionally internationally).
2016 is going to be even better, with not one but 2 international presenters touring Australia, plus more and a greater variety of local presenters.
The end of this year has certainly seen a flurry of professional issues for those that are APA members. The question foremost on member's minds is - does my professional association still have my professional interests at heart, or are there other agendas taking higher precedence? My 2016 renewal form has been sitting on my desk for a week now, and after being a member for 25+ years, I had decided to relinquish my membership. Not a light matter after supporting the APA for so long, nor that I would also be required to relinquish my specialisation title, something that personally and professionally means a lot to me.
I am still receiving lots of emails, from other members asking what am I doing and what should they do. Clearly the APA has done the wrong thing in this instance by attempting to restrict members' access to and the development of, professional development. This has both immediate and longer term ramifications to our physiotherapy profession, which is not what I would expect from our peak professional body.
Nil consultation with members was undertaken, even most state committee members were not aware of this decision, and it seems the APA staff realise the error of their judgement, based upon the ground swell that has been directed at them by members.
The question going forward is how can changes be best achieved? The reality is not from outside our organisation. Sure if we don't renew, the APA will take a hit financially, and given they are making this decision based upon seeing more $ in their pockets, it is speaking the language they seem to listening to. However, I believe we need to look at the longer term improvement of our association, bit like implementing a chronic care management plan. The APA has stepped off the ideal path to recovery and we need to guide them back.
This is our association, with the reality that APA members stay and APA staff move on. To step away as a member means we have given up. I would suggest to those that care about the APA to renew in 2016, BUT put the staff on notice. What the APA staff have done is unacceptable and that without;
- A reversal of their hasty decisions to limit member advertising and member use of APA facilities
- A commitment to develop and formalise the 'career pathway' through consulting with members (if this is what members actually want), they would be encouraging a mass exodus of members in 2017.
Personally I think post graduate physiotherapy education in Australia has done very well in the past 20 years, with a vibrant and diverse offering that continues to flourish. The professional gains of physiotherapy in Australia has all occurred without needing the 'legitimising' or regulation by our APA.
I believe going forward, it would be logical and positive for the APA to choose to support, an already successful model of professional development education for physiotherapists in Australia.
With the recent change in direction at the APA, it looks likely that AAP Education will be unable to advertise through InMotion or other APA publications any more. For this reason we will be primarily posting up to date course changes, short pieces and links of clinical importance onto our FaceBook page. Please take a second to LIKE this page via this LINK and in this way stay up to date.
Clinical pieces will continue to be emailed fortnightly via the Clinical Kits newsletter.