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Early forms of physical therapy involved massage, hydrotherapy, and exercises for joint mobility.
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The profession transitioned to a master's degree as the first professional degree.
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Throughout the war, many women worked tirelessy to do their part treating the many casualties during the war as getting them back on the field. These women proved themselves as heroic medical professionals and demonstrated the vital future role of physical therapists in American healthcare. -
The profession expanded significantly, driven by the need to treat injuries from World War I and polio patients
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The profession began with post-baccalaureate certificate programs offered by hospital-based schools, emphasizing rehabilitating soldiers and polio patients.
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Physical Therapy dates all the way back to 460 B.C where Hippocrates introduced the idea of pain management through manual therapy. However, It wasn't unit WW1 when physical therapy gain importance due to the unprecedented high numbers of injured soldiers and others to benefitted from physical therapy.
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The organization started in 1921 called the American Women's Physcial Therapeutic Association, having 274 members nationally, referred to more as Reconstruction Aides than physical therapist. -
After the war ended, the reconstruction aide program at Walter Reed General Hospital was set to be dismantled. Mary McMillan and her colleagues aimed to capitalize on the war's momentum, preserve the resources and progress made, and maintain the core team involved in the program. That's where later on, Mary McMillan was elected as the first president of this new society of women, all of whom were accomplished leaders in their profession. -
It then changed its name in 1922 to the American Physiotherapy Association allowing men to join, with membership increasing to 3,000 nationally.
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The introduction of new modalities expanded physical therapists' toolkit, including ultrasound, hydrotherapy, and early electrical stimulators
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World War II spurred further advancements, leading to more widespread use of physical therapy and new techniques like gait training.
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During World War ll and the polio epidemic during 1940s and 1950s physical therapist were in more high demand due to the need for rehabilitation services for a large number of wounded soldiers and a severe public health crisis that left thousands paralyzed, increasing the public and medical establishment's awareness of physical therapy's crucial role in restoring func mobility.
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Educational requirements increased to a four-year baccalaureate degree.
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The practice of physical therapy for patients dramatically changed. In the 1960s and 1970s, physical therapist practice expanded with increasing chest physical therapy programs for pre- and postoperative patients. With the expansion of joint replacements, new avenues for orthopedic physical therapist practice emerged
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Physical therapists began to more widely adopt advanced techniques such as electrotherapy and ultrasound for diagnosis and treatment
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The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) passed a resolution requiring a post-baccalaureate degree, which would become the Master's degree, for physical therapists by 1990.
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In the 1980’s, the explosion of technology and computers led to more technical advances in rehabilitation. Some of these advances have continued to grow, with computerized modalities such as ultrasound, electric stimulators, and iontophoresis with the latest advances in therapeutic cold laser, which gained FDA approval in the United States in 2002.
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In the 1990s, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research led to new opportunities for practice. Physical therapists were faced with the challenges of increasing governmental cost savings, decreasing reimbursement, increasing governmental regulations, the influences of the insurance industry and corporate America, and the sudden personnel supply exceeding demand for services.
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Entry-level physical therapists were required to hold a doctoral degree. The first Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) graduated in 1996, and by the late 2000s, DPT programs became the standard educational track.
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Today, physical therapists use tools like wearable sensors, VR/AR, telehealth, AI, and robotics to assess patient progress, design immersive rehab programs, deliver treatments remotely, present personalized data, and support accurate and specific treatment movements. These tools provide better patient experience, objective data, more effective treatment, and greater access to treatment.