And, correspondingly, Preview 2020 is the first place where the local and national chapters of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) joined forces to discuss the newly developed vision for the PT profession as a self-governing autonomous practice.

Preview 2020 provided more than 32 sessions, each three hours in length, from seven key topic areas to 570 students and clinicians, a record number of attendees for this particular conference.

Attendees were invited to concentrate on one topic or divide their time among multiple sessions. Topics discussed included: business management, cervical spine disorders, differential diagnosis, exercise for the complex medical patient, management of obesity, Parkinson'’s disease and pharmacology for the adult and geriatric patient.

Although in its fourth year, this late-October conference celebrated a variety of firsts : Not only was it the first time APTA teamed up with a state chapter, the PPTA, but it was also the first time the conference came to the east coast.

Randy Roesch, PT, MBA, vice president of APTA, gave the keynote speech and explained the concept of APTA’s Vision 2020, the fortitude it took to develop it and the diligence it’s going to take to carry it through.

"Vision 2020 is the preeminent goal," Roesch says. "You know it’s remarkable, and frankly, it’s bold to develop a 20-year plan. But we need to chart our course so no one else charts it for us."

Essentially, Vision 2020 is the association’s roadmap of goals to be met by the year 2020; and the goal is six-pronged, as it focuses on the following elements of the practice: having an autonomous practice, having widespread adoption of Direct Access, requiring all therapists to obtain a doctor of physical therapy degree, implementing evidence-based practice, being a practitioner of choice and employing high standards of professionalism. Click here to learn more about the APTA’s Vision 2020 plan.

PT as a doctoring profession is a major goal of the APTA. Roesch said 10,000 professionals currently hold a DPT degree, 20,000 will by the end of 2007 and 40,000 will by the end of 2008. Roesch said the doctorate degree is advantageous for therapists because it gives them prestige and authority in the eyes of referring physicians, as well as patients, who may tend to choose the DPT over the MPT.

And pushing the PT profession to achieve lofty professional goals will only encourage other healthcare practitioners to further their careers as well, Roesch says. "Any one individual’s professional growth will nurture the growth of others within the professional community."

Grzybek furthers that sentiment, saying, although APTA’s Vision 2020 emphasizes autonomous practice,"that does not indicate independence from other therapists. Really, it fosters collaboration and interdependence with the other healthcare professionals we interact with."

"We can educate OTs, nutritionists, nurses, respiratory and speech therapists on how we can help further their practice and their professional goals," Grzybek adds. "We can help them understand what we can offer as a physical therapist in one of their client’s healthcare, and also how we have the opportunity to refer to those other practitioners. I see our vision of physical therapy really working even more interdependently with the professionals we so highly regard."

Roesch says the physical therapy profession is on the cusp of a huge boom in demand, due to what she terms "boomeritis" and "fix-me-itis." She also warns clinicians that this new generation of Americans entering their "golden years" and demanding to cling to their independence stands to dramatically change the face of PT.

Something else that stands to change the field is Direct Access legislation that eliminates, under certain conditions, the physician referral requirement for patients needing physical therapist services.

According to Roesch, 43 states currently have some form of Direct Access, and several states are on the brink of passing legislation to also provide this service. Roesch encourages therapists in states without direct access to lobby their state legislators and become involved in political action committees through the APTA or their state associations.

Evidence-based practice is also an effort the APTA is strongly backing. Roesch recommends two particular Web sites to use as resources: www.apta.org/opendoor, which is the association’s portal to evidence-based practice research reports, and www.hookedonevidence.com, which is a grassroots effort to develop a database containing current research evidence on the effectiveness of physical therapy interventions.

Vision 2020 has a positive picture painted for the future of PT. According to the APTA, the Vision 2020 mission will help physical therapists and physical therapist assistants render evidence-based services throughout the continuum of care and improve quality of life for society as they are guided by integrity, life-long learning and a commitment to comprehensive and accessible health programs for all people.

"We could be on the train or waiting outside at the station," says Roesch. "Vision 2020 is our train ticket."

Do you think all therapists should get "intense"? Click here to visit the Therapy Times forum, post your response and see what other therapists are saying.

Amy Storer is the senior managing editor of Therapy Times. Questions or comments can be directed to editorial@TherapyTimes.com.