When did physical therapy first come to the United States?
Today’s physical therapy profession was established towards the end of the 1800s because of a recognized need by the American orthopedic surgeons. They realized that physical education and remedial exercise would benefit children with disabilities, especially applied during the Polio outbreak of 1916.
Who was honored at the second World Confederation for physical therapy in 1956?
Five years later, in 1956, APTA would cohost the second WCPT World Congress in New York City, where Elson would be one of the dignitaries on hand as WCPT honored Jonas Salk for the introduction of his widely acclaimed Salk vaccine for polio the previous year.
Who was considered the first physical therapist?
The earliest documented origins of actual physical therapy as a professional group date back to Per Henrik Ling, “Father of Swedish Gymnastics,” who founded the Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics (RCIG) in 1813 for manipulation, and exercise.
Who was the first physical therapist in the US?
Marguerite Sanderson and Mary McMillan were the first two individuals involved in the training of “reconstruction aides” responsible for caring for those individuals wounded in World War I.
When was physical therapy introduced?
The year was 435 BC when Hippocrates began advocating the use of massage, hydrotherapy, and manual therapy techniques to treat his patients. This is believed to have been the very first origins of what would become today’s physical therapy.
What was the official first Physical Therapy Association name?
APTA originally formed in 1921 as the American Women’s Physical Therapeutic Association. The association was first led by President Mary McMillan, and an executive committee of elected officers governed the Association, which included 274 charter members.
When was the first physical therapist?
Who founded the first Physical Therapy Association and also known as the Mother of physical therapy?
Mary McMillan
The first physiotherapy research was published in the United States in March 1921 in The PT Review. In the same year, Mary McMillan organized the Physical Therapy Association (now called the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Treatment through the 1940s primarily consisted of exercise, massage, and traction.