Since a decade or so, Physiotherapy has evolved with the help of technology and is no longer restricted to being simple exercise therapy. It now involves electrotherapy, manual therapy, gamification, tele-rehab, brain stimulation techniques, gait correcting insoles and more. These advancements help in speedy recoveries and also ease the learning process by teaching patients to replace previous movement strategies with new techniques.
As such, Physiotherapists need to update their approach for the benefit of their patients, students, research & academic fields. And this can be done through up-gradation of Physiotherapy Institutes. In this COVID-19 pandemic era, the institutional response to these technological developments is all the more important and soon they will be expected to introduce not only online learning (e-learning) through a virtual learning environment (VLE) using ICT tools but also to see its application in treating the patients at home.
Preparing for this digital up-gradation is School of Physiotherapy, a unit of the Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University (DPSRU) which is the first Pharmacy University of India, and third in the world, running various courses in health sciences.
School of Physiotherapy, started to run physiotherapy courses in the year 2015. It has a dedicated Outpatient Department (OPD) for services of Physiotherapy and is associated with several important hospitals of the Government of Delhi and leading private universities.
Modern Facilities
The institute strives to achieve its vision of being the ultimate destination for education, training and research in Physiotherapy and thereby, cater to the health needs of the people at large, integrating with other health science disciplines. It has state-of-the-art equipment for fitness assessment and digitalization required for sports physiotherapy. Research and innovation have been the distinctive feature of the university and the same is true for the School of Physiotherapy.
The courses have been recognized and approved by statutory bodies like AICTE, PCI, DCPTOT. In addition to pharmacy courses, the university runs Physiotherapy (BPT) and Public Health (MBA, MHM and MPH). It also has an Academy of Sports, Sciences and Research Management with facilities of sports digitalization and fitness assessment and Yoga and Fitness Centre with equipment’s to assess diseases and health. It has two important units in addition to Schools for various certificate courses like World Class Skill Development Center (WCSC) running one year courses in Health and Wellness and DPSRU Innovation and Incubation Foundation with 16 start-ups.
Adapting Advancements for Holistic Growth
The Institute understands that they need to upgrade to high-end digitalized equipment to keep the students at par with the industry. At School of Physiotherapy in DPSRU, workshops on assistive and supporting devices like “Taping” and integrating the approaches of kinesiology and alternative medicine “Dry Needling” (using acupuncture needles), are organized in addition to guest lectures.
The institute acknowledges that its primary aim is to inculcate the holistic development to the students’ life, moulding them to a personality that can sustain in an ever-changing world. The school has published over 50 papers, organized 3 National conferences and several workshops in addition to Guest lectures. It has also organized the practice school for the outgoing batches.
The university also has provision for a PhD. in Physiotherapy. It invites experts from reputed institutes like AIIMS, Patiala University, CRPF and many reputed hospitals of Delhi, and Sports Authority of India. Students are updated through workshops and seminars on recent topics. Emphasis is given on clinical reasoning and practical skill development based on recent development during the workshop and practical classes. Students are encouraged for research and publications. It also promotes and provides both online and offline access to research summaries and makes them aware of the importance of reading good journals and articles.
Promoting Excellence
The inspiration that pushes everyone to do their best is the institute’s Honorable Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ramesh K. Goyal. An active researcher, Prof. Goyal has over 325 original research papers (h- index 42); 18 books; over 600 abstracts published and 3 patents granted and 5 more under consideration. He has been conferred with 73 International, National and State awards and is second only non- Russian to have been conferred with Honorary Professorship at Stavropol Medical State University in Russia in 2018. He is the member of several committees including that of ICMR, CDSCO, DST and AICTE. Being an active researcher promotes research and innovation.
Dr Shilpa Jain (PT), Head, School of Physiotherapy, contributes to the growth with her leadership quality and an affirmative outlook which keeps the work culture amicable and progressive. This is well reflected by the fact that within 4 years in the physiotherapy department, she has filed a patent for the common occupational and non-occupational musculoskeletal problems.
A Wide-range of Career Opportunities
Physiotherapy has spread its wings to every discipline of medicine and surgery, limiting not to just Orthopaedics or Neurology. A physiotherapist is now serving multiple roles of a clinician, sports Physiotherapist, academician, Researcher, a therapist at Special School and more.
In nutshell, physiotherapy is required as a companion not only to orthopaedic but most of the other departments. Sports, yoga and gym are other areas that have emerged as opportunities for physiotherapists. Many health issues today are emerging because of bad postures and long hours at desks and computer usage. The IT sector needs most of the counselling by physiotherapists.
Going Forward
The institute, in the years to come, plans to have a hospital of its own in addition to a rehabilitation centre for neurological and muscular diseases. The institute also plans to introduce advance courses in collaboration with many international educational organizations and academies so that students can get all the advantages in India itself. The University also plans to have specialized courses at the postgraduate and doctoral level to provide specialized trained manpower for physiotherapy.
