Physical Therapy Differential Diagnosis in the Clinical Setting

As the parameters of physical therapy practice and thus the teaching in preparation for practice become more clearly delineated, the complexity of this discipline is apparent. Preparing colleagues and future colleagues to meet consumers' and payers' clinical expectations has become a major goal of physical therapy education. Identifying the process used by physical therapists to quickly identify impairments, select appropriate evaluation measures, and optimize treatment to gain measurable performance outcomes is an objective of many academic and clinical educators. This process used by master clinicians is called physical therapy differential diagnosis. This article presents a conceptual model of physical therapy differential diagnosis in the clinical setting and demonstrates how it can be applied academically. The complex linear and spatial three-dimensional components of the model are illustrated. Two case studies demonstrate various aspects of physical therapy differential diagnosis.