The World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) is subdivided into five world regions (Africa; Asia and Western Pacific; Europe; North America and Caribbean; and South America). At the last meeting, held in Singapore in 2015, it was established that the Physical Therapy World Congress would be held every two years, in odd-numbered years. Thus, in even-numbered years, the regional conferences would take place. In Latin American countries, the WCPT is present in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. In this context, thanks to the Argentinian Association of Kinesiology, Argentina has hosted the VI Latin American Meeting of Academics (VI ELA) on June 8 and 9, 2016, and the IV WCPT-SAR Congress on June 9 and 10, of the same year. The first event was attended by 120 professors of the most respected universities, who exchanged information and established the following main themes:
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Academic quality of the models and approval processes.
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Training models in physiotherapy and impacts on national educational projects.
The IV WCPT-SAR Congress counted with the participation of more than 800 professionals, and the high academic level of the presentations stood out. Two hundred and five abstracts were received and partially analyzed by a Regional Scientific Committee. Of these, 37 were accepted as plenary talks, 60 as free oral presentations and 80 as posters, reaching a rate of 86.34% of approval. The amount of studies received surpassed the previous editions of the Congress, and the level was more than gratifying. Brazil was the country that sent more abstracts, followed, in equal proportions, by Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. The three best studies were awarded with publication in the Fisioterapia & Pesquisa journal, a widespread physiotherapy journal in Latin America.
Both events counted with the honorable presence of WCPT's Vice-President, Margot Skinner, from New Zealand. Her lecture at ELA approached the approval process in universities, while the one at WCPT-HRH dealt with the strategic plan of the WCPT for next few years, which is considering the profession's hierarchization so that it can be leveled in all countries. In this way, the physical therapist will be able to meet and treat patients without referral from a physician. This already occurs in Brazil, but it is noteworthy that in other Latin American countries physical therapists have no freedom to act this way. Dr. Skinner also emphasized the amount of material available on the WCPT website (www.wcpt.org), which offers technical and legal support to the representatives entities of each country to write their documents for the establishment of credit systems, approvals, and also to the action of physical therapists in cases of disasters and emergencies. On this last theme, during the Congress, the work of the Ecuadorian Society of Physical Therapy was highlighted, which, following the procedures offered by the WCPT networks, continued working after the earthquake that occurred in the country.
I take this opportunity to invite all Brazilian researchers to submit their work to the next World Confederation for Physical Therapy Congress, which will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, July 2-4, 2017.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
Apr-Jun 2016
