Until recently physical therapy was a small step above changing bedpans. Why do so few doctors really understand exercise and when they don't why are they unwilling to defer to specialists? Why is medicine still taught from the multiple choice, abstract, diagrammatic or morgue point of view, rarely using the moving patient as an example? Will physical therapy become more mechanistic in the age of managed care? Is mechanistic therapy partly the result of the hospital and clinic environments? Could better results be achieved with house calls, or rehab in pools, health clubs, outdoor centers, ashrams and less sterile surroundings? Or does the mechanistic nature of physical therapy help isolate and treat a specific problem?
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