Not “Financing a Sham”

Abstract

To the Editor: This letter is written in response to the September 2001 Editor's Note titled “Are You Financing a Sham?” In the Note, Dr Rothstein contended that it is a rare occasion when a physical therapy continuing education course provides scientific evidence, or even discusses what evidence exists, for a topic. He argued that most continuing education courses are primarily testimonials. He also stated, “Even at APTA national meetings and component-sponsored events, there seem to be few demands for speakers to provide evidence or even to discuss whether evidence exists.” We submit that the Neurology Section of APTA offers continuing education courses based on evidence. And here is our evidence. The Neurology Section's 2001 Combined Section Meeting (CSM) preconference program included 3 keynote speakers. The average number of articles listed in a PubMed/MEDLINE search for these 3 speakers was 86 (SD=81). In 2002, the Neurology Section will offer 2 pre-conference courses. There will be 10 keynote speakers. The average number of articles listed in a PubMed/MEDLINE search for these 10 speakers was 40 (SD=53). The median number of publications for our 13 CSM 2001 and 2002 preconference keynote speakers was 30 articles. This number of articles would suggest that we have credible speakers. But quantity of articles is not everything. What about the quality of the articles? The journals in which our keynote speakers publish include, but are not limited to, Advances in Neurology ; Brain ; Brain Research ; Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology ; Experimental Brain Research ; Gait and Posture ; Journal of Applied Physiology ; Journal of Biomechanics ; Journal of Comparative Neurology ; Journal of Gerontology ; Journal of Neurology ; Journal of Neurophysiology ; Journal of Neuroscience ; Muscle and Nerve ; …