You know what really grinds my gears? When fitness people play pretend doctor.
They pretend expertise or experience in the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and management of a medical problem - usually a painful problem that is musculoskeletal in nature. Oh, I get it. You saw a client once who told you their [insert medical practitioner here] told them something that wasn't right, and then the client did something you coached them in, and the client told you they felt better. You cured them! Wow, you are smarter than that dumb old [doctor, physical therapist, etc]. Riiiiiight.
Latest entry from Mr Eric Cressey, here's what I tweeted just now:
Now I happen to like Eric Cressey's website and think he's probably an outstanding coach and trainer. He also calls foul on a lot of crap that physical therapists, chiropractors, and physicians do that is spot on and worth mentioning. I've retweeted his material and I've written him "thank you that needed to be said" messages before. He does a lot of stuff right, so this isn't a personal attack on him.
I discussed this issue a while back in another thread and I'll repost that here:
"Maybe I look at these issues too simply. I think someone is either a trained healthcare provider capable and responsible to examine, diagnose, and treat someone - or they aren't.
If I have a patient with a suspected non-musculoskeletal problem, I don't speculate on what it could be unless there is an evidence-based screening criteria I am using, and I don't offer advice or suggestions on treatment since it's outside my area of expertise. I make the referral and move them on, then encourage them to follow the advice of the appropriate clinician and reinforce that advice when I'm aware of it. I realize that for those issues, I don't know what I don't know. I have enough education to be able to explain the physiology of things outside my area of expertise when a diagnosis has been provided by a qualified person (a frequent task for me in my extended family and I'm happy to do it), but I try to be very clear about what I can and cannot do and what I do and do not know. [This is a basic responsibility of any healthcare practitioner]
I have seen a lot of fitness type folks who seem to be evaluating and treating medical problems, and I think they are one wrong move away from a bad outcome for both their client and themselves - because they don't know what they don't know."
Ironically, fitness and massage people are in a position to positively affect their client's health maybe more than any medical person like me. They can get involved in their life on a somewhat long term basis and steer them toward a healthy lifestyle and provide sound advice on areas they have expertise in. They have so much, and in many ways so much more than medical professionals, to offer that I am bewildered that so many often speak beyond their expertise and training. If you have not had basic science education and training in the evaluation, diagnosis and management of real medical problems then do not pretend you have! This involves real training in real healthcare settings with real sick patients. If you have not had this training you don't know what you don't know. And that can hurt your clients and your career.
They pretend expertise or experience in the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and management of a medical problem - usually a painful problem that is musculoskeletal in nature. Oh, I get it. You saw a client once who told you their [insert medical practitioner here] told them something that wasn't right, and then the client did something you coached them in, and the client told you they felt better. You cured them! Wow, you are smarter than that dumb old [doctor, physical therapist, etc]. Riiiiiight.
Latest entry from Mr Eric Cressey, here's what I tweeted just now:
What's funnier "trainer playing doctor" or number of medical marketing gimmicks? ?RT @ericcressey: Corrective Exercise http://t.co/6aj1cw8
I discussed this issue a while back in another thread and I'll repost that here:
"Maybe I look at these issues too simply. I think someone is either a trained healthcare provider capable and responsible to examine, diagnose, and treat someone - or they aren't.
If I have a patient with a suspected non-musculoskeletal problem, I don't speculate on what it could be unless there is an evidence-based screening criteria I am using, and I don't offer advice or suggestions on treatment since it's outside my area of expertise. I make the referral and move them on, then encourage them to follow the advice of the appropriate clinician and reinforce that advice when I'm aware of it. I realize that for those issues, I don't know what I don't know. I have enough education to be able to explain the physiology of things outside my area of expertise when a diagnosis has been provided by a qualified person (a frequent task for me in my extended family and I'm happy to do it), but I try to be very clear about what I can and cannot do and what I do and do not know. [This is a basic responsibility of any healthcare practitioner]
I have seen a lot of fitness type folks who seem to be evaluating and treating medical problems, and I think they are one wrong move away from a bad outcome for both their client and themselves - because they don't know what they don't know."
Ironically, fitness and massage people are in a position to positively affect their client's health maybe more than any medical person like me. They can get involved in their life on a somewhat long term basis and steer them toward a healthy lifestyle and provide sound advice on areas they have expertise in. They have so much, and in many ways so much more than medical professionals, to offer that I am bewildered that so many often speak beyond their expertise and training. If you have not had basic science education and training in the evaluation, diagnosis and management of real medical problems then do not pretend you have! This involves real training in real healthcare settings with real sick patients. If you have not had this training you don't know what you don't know. And that can hurt your clients and your career.
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