Learning physiotherapists are interested in the challenge of lifelong learning, development, and self-improvement. Sometimes we will need to step off the treadmill and ask ourselves how we can learn better. It is a skill worth investing in - to optimise your ability to take in new information and drop information that is no longer useful for us as physiotherapists. 

Experience is a wonderful teacher for a learning physiotherapist - and that is why if you are lacking exposure and experience, perhaps only having started your career…seeking mentorship can be hugely helpful. Learn from mentors - where they have stumbled, what works well, what does not work so well. Take that on board. Reflection accelerates learning and is essential to build acute self-awareness of how you learn efficiently and effectively.

Certain strategies can help amplify learning. Interleaving is a process where physio students mix multiple topics while they study to improve learning capacity and...

The yearning to explore, learn and try new things – to be inquisitive…curiosity – ‘to boldly go where no one has gone before’, to borrow words from Star Trek. Curiosity is a soft skill superpower that we have abundantly as children. My son is asking me “what’s that?” and “why?” all the time. He is insatiably curious about everything; he wants to learn about everything around him. He is Columbus - he is an explorer. NASA look for astronauts and scientists that are curious, that ask good questions, and actively listen; NASA even have a car-sized rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission named ‘Curiosity’.

Curiosity is an important trait for us as learning physiotherapists. Think back to history of individuals who have made an impact on civilisation – they were curious human beings. Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Sarah...

There can be a palpable anxiety and stress with seeing a bookshelf laden down with books not yet read. I used to feel overwhelmed about that mountain of paper. And that mountain is only bigger now thanks to book subscriptions, gifts, and the online behemoth - amazon. But – I recently unearthed a term that I found powerful and it completely changed my perspective on this phenomenon – the antilibrary. 

An antilibrary, a concept introduced by Lebanese American author Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book ‘The Black Swan’ is your private collection of books that you have not yet read. Unread books are a research tool for physiotherapists. Read books are less valuable than unread books…because you have acquired the knowledge, stories, and insights already. Unread books keep you intellectually curious and humble. Of course, there is a time and space to re-read your favourite physiotherapy books, but the ones that you have not read yet – they are...

Over the past number of years an ancient philosophy has started to flood social media, literature, and modern teachings. Primarily buoyed by the success of recent self-development books by authors such as Ryan Holiday and Alain de Botton on the topic, Stoicism has seen a huge rise in Google searches - and become a common part of the modern-day vernacular. Originally founded by Zeno in Athens, Greece during the 3rd century BC, Stoicism is a school of philosophy that is very much part of the tapestry of these times – and an ethos we can take into our career as learning physiotherapists as we navigate a new year.

Ryan Holiday, someone whose deep, articulate, and well-researched work we recommend at ‘The Learning Physiotherapist’ has spearheaded the re-connection with Stoicism. In his seminal book ‘The Obstacle is The Way’, he highlights how former philosophers, like the great Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and Seneca, employed the stoic mindset to...

As humans in modern society, our instinct to negative feedback is to adopt a defensive mindset - and become almost reactive or protective about our missteps. We perceive negativity and poor critique as threatening to our very make up as a person! Our reptilian brains kick in…we respond with a fight or flight response, shrugging off what should be our golden ticket to get better.

Feedback is an important piece of modern working life and the physiotherapy profession; however - we often do not see it as such. As physiotherapists looking to learn and grow, we need to understand the immense benefit of being able to be called out for any shortfall in our efforts, or where we can improve. Feedback should not be seen as a personal attack – but a constructive way to learn and develop in our physiotherapy career.

During our careers as physiotherapists, we are going to face a lot of ups and downs. This is normal. This is part of the process of finding where we can really succeed...

Continuous professional development is a huge part of a physiotherapists training and career. We receive a folder during our under-graduate degree, and we insert all our certificates of courses completed, conferences attended, examination reports, and so forth into it. The culture and emphasis on consistent, diligent learning and development is there from the early days – and serves us well as we develop our career in physiotherapy and healthcare.
To stay up-to-date and informed with new cutting-edge science, best physiotherapy practice and codes of professional contact we are constantly signing up for new courses (e.g., soft skills, writing, myofascial dry needling, injection therapy, manipulative therapy, muscle energy techniques, taping, exercise prescription, strength and conditioning)– to deliver high quality, evidence-based services to our patients and clients. Curiosity about how the best clinicians manage and treat injuries, their approach, skillset, and what they...

Mentoring is a relationship-rooted, collaborate effort to facilitate learning - often between both sides. It opens a door for growth with the sharing of knowledge, experiences, skills, reflections, and mistakes made - and conquered. It has a hugely valuable role to play in personal and professional development - and should be at the heart of any pathway for success, fulfilment, and high performance for a physiotherapist. It has been a hugely influential piece to my career development to date – a reservoir that keeps giving back.

Mentoring is important for physiotherapists - for the mentor and the mentee, or protege. The mentor will crystallise thoughts that they see vital, absorb satisfaction from seeing the mentee learn and evolve, strengthen interpersonal soft skills further - and continue to experience different insights and concepts. The mentee will learn how to be more effective and proficient in the field of physiotherapy, add skills, get advice and suggestions, build...

The word ‘soft’ is the opposite of ‘hard’, and with that loaded term brings many connotations and perceptions that do not always seem in favour of soft skills. However -do not lose sight of the critical fact that soft skills are essential to be successful and fulfilled in what you do as a physiotherapist.

Hard skills can be more readily assessed, quantified, and gauged. They refer to technical skills and competence completing those kinds of tasks. Educational background, work experience, task prowess and objective competency are all round hard skills – which are indeed important for opening career opportunity doors and becoming technically proficient and expert clinically. But – soft skills, people skills…life skills if you will - represent personal capabilities that are the lifeblood of relationships in a social environment; and we as physiotherapists usually work and thrive in social environments.

Soft skills combine character...