Research in Motion

This blog is all about why I have started writing blogs and newsletters and try many other ways of disseminating the evidence. 

The evidence-practice model is currently the best available solution to improve our patient care or health delivery system. I encountered the concept first in my postgraduate while I came across a book titled “Evidence-Based Physical Therapy”.  The book really helped me with the basic assumptions of EBP and how to apply those things in practice.

This very first encounter enabled me to explore physiotherapy in the light of current evidence. There have been many facilitators who helped me all along the journey. As a full time working physio, time is the biggest barrier to Evidence-based practice. Because of the barrier, I started first with Facebook by creating a page (still active)  where I used to share articles and their interpretations.

Subsequently, a WhatsApp group where we can exchange information with more and more professionals and students. Though I realized that it was very much limited to these efforts at trying to share and discuss the evidence and still not satisfying the soul. Until I joined twitter where I came across pioneers of PT profession across the globe sharing and discussing information at a much bigger scale. I was first exposed to a blog on this platform. 

Twitter has been a pivot in refining my thoughts and ideas to share more and more literature with a wider group of professionals and also engage in discussions on these papers. Few people did inspire me on my way to start a blog or newsletter. I recommend everyone should visit there profiles on twitter. (David Poulter, Tom Jesson and Ali Abdaal). These individuals have inspired me to start writing.

Finally, I started a blog on WordPress.  I write on random topics related to public health and Physiotherapy. There’s no specific theme to it. After this, I started my newsletter on Substack where I write about how PTs can contribute in the management and prvention of non communicable diseases. I contribute as on of the authors for thecuriousphysios , you can see the work on the Insta page.

My journey to “share” is itself inspired by my curiosity and dedication “to read”. Read absolutely anything and everything, analyse, explore, and finally reach a “critical and logical explanation”. The very first principle of research is to read more and more. The more you read, the more you can question and that leads its way to find an answer. 

I now work as an academician but at the same time see patients to let the research which I explore every day become a part of my practice and even help my patients reach the knowledge. The article has links to all the content I create, do visit and give your feedback it will be valueable for me to keep on improving.

I believe and hope more Physios will embrace evidence based practice and we can move in the forward and right direction.

This is my little story to translate research into practice.

Ammar Suhail PT