Consultation goals: What would you like from us today? If we had to consider the amount of times we have used the line “What would you like from this consultation?” we would shudder to think of the actual number. However, what makes us shudder more is the amount of times we have had patients give blank looks as a response to that exact question. More often than not the reply is usually along the lines of “I thought I have come to you for you to work out the problem”. But in saying that, there are times when patients really know what they want and we work with them to fulfill their needs. Sure, physiotherapy can help patients really nut out what they’re after: - Diagnosis - Treatment Strategy etc At the end, once this is established, this is a team effort where therapist and patient work together. Including the patient in the consultation Including the patient in the consultation is vital. Without patient input you’re literally flying blind, in that you will never know what the patient wants and is required for good therapeutic alliance. What is including the patient? At Melbourne CBD Physiotherapy and Sports Medicinetherapy and Sports Medicine our physiotherapists believe that including the patient involves physiotherapist and patient establishing a few of the following points: - The injury or symptom history - Working together to establish the problem at hand - Patient goals around what they want to get back doing - The level in which they wish to perform, and whether that's realistic - Their current health status - If physiotherapy alone is optimal for recovery - Does our extended allied health network need to have input - How the patient perceives they will reach their goals - Sharing the evidence on gold standard treatment direction on clinical evidence, and is there an accessible environment to ensure this is achievable - Clinical experience on what has worked in similar cases - How to create independence as quickly as possible - Deciding together whether the patient is happy with the recommended clinical direction How we treat At Melbourne CBD Physiotherapy and Sports Medicinetherapy and Sports Medicine the mentality we take into the consultation is that we are trying to put ourselves out of a job. Sure, we enjoy all of our patients company and consulting for them. However, we have a firm belief that we want our patients to be as independent as possible. After all giving patients a locus of control is key, and something that we feel is really satisfying.  Is pain free really better? As a group of practitioners who are outcome driven, and from our experience in working in elite environments, we feel that there are times when we shouldn't settle for a pain free status only. From knowing what the human body is really capable of, we often associate pain free as a very short term  goal. At Melbourne CBD Physiotherapy and Sports Medicinetherapy and Sports Medicine we feel we can help you be comfortable with your symptom status really quickly, but is that really good enough to ensure you keep performing whatever your goal may be? At our Melbourne CBD Physiotherapy and Sports Medicinetherapy and Sports Medicine clinic, we feel that people often present having not been pushed far enough in their physical recovery. At Melbourne CBD Physiotherapy and Sports Medicinetherapy and Sports Medicine we really like to challenge the status quo, and we do that by pairing patients with our highly experienced dualed qualified practitioners who hold additional formal education and experience in: Sports science Exercise Physiology Sports and Exercise Physiotherapy PhD in speciality areas And giving patients access to premier rehabilitation and performance equipment. This is to ensure that as a team we can go one better!