Page 2 P H Y S I O T H E R A P Y March, 1960

E D I T O R I A L

TH E first Journal o f  I960 seem s an appropriate tim e to talk a b o u t th e activities o f  the S o u th  
A frican Society o f  Physiotherapy and to  explain 
w hat the Society d o es for its mem bers.

Often new -com ers to  the country and new ly 
qualified South A frican Physiotherapists feel that 
to be registered w ith the South A frican M edical 
and D en ta l C oun cil is sufficient to  enable them  to 
ob tain  first-class posts. True en o u g h  the 
S .A .M .D .C . helps our S ociety and p rotects our 
m em bers in m any w ays, but they can n ot fight our 
battles fo r us, battles fo r increased salaries, in­
creased fees in private practice and fo r raising o f  
our p rofessional status. A ll this m ust be d one by 
our o w n  Society efforts.

W e have clo se on four hundred m em bers up to 
date, a far cry from  the early days when a h a lf 
d ozen  trained p eo p le were scattered through out 
the U n io n . It w a s their united efforts, though, 
w hich  brought us to w here we are tod ay. ‘’U n ity  
is Strength” and o n ly  through all qualified p h y sio ­
therapists in this country jo in in g  the Society can 
w e increase our strength and m ake it p ossib le for 
us to obtain official recognition.

T h e recent raise in the annual subscription to 
£3. 3. 0. is little en ou gh  for a p rofessional b o d y  and 
the revenue thus gained hardly covers our present 
expenditure. In th e near future w e shall have to  
exp an d  and have perm anent headquarter’s offices 
and paid p ersonnel. A lso  plans are in the air for 
travelling and training bursaries am o n g st other 
thin gs. A ll this m eans m ore in com e is needed.

A t present the Central E xecu tive C om m ittee is 
stationed  in Johannesburg w ith m em bers o f  the 
S outhern  and N orth ern  Transvaal Branches serving 
on it. This C om m ittee k eep s in close co n ta ct with 
the other B ranches in the U n io n , all o f  w h om  
have their ow n Branch E xecutive C om m ittees. 
C oun cil m eetings are called regularly and to  these 
m eetin gs delegates from  each Branch are sent and 
m atters o f  N a tio n a l im portance are discussed.

T h e South A frican Society o f  Physiotherapy is 
represented on various bodies, both International 
and N a tio n a l. The W orld C onfederation o f  
Physiotherapy is the m ost im portant International 
b o d y  and through this C onfederation co n ta ct is 
m ade with th o se p eop le interested in Physical 
Therapy through out the w orld. T hrough this 
publicity, P hysiotherapy is becom in g m ore and m ore 
recognised in every country.

H ere in South A frica, the South A frican Society 
o f  P hysioth erapy is represented on the N a tio n a l 
C oun cil for the Care o f  C ripples and the N a tio n a l 
C oun cil o f  W o m en , b oth  im portant b odies in our 
spheres. W e are also interested in the N a tio n a l

C ouncil for the Blind and the training o f  the 
Blind Physiotherapists. Fairly recently C .A .M .P . 
(C ouncil o f  A llied  M edical P rofessions) has been 
form ed with m em bers from  various M ed ica l 
A u x ilia r ie s, in clu d ing Physiotherapists, serving on 
the C om m ittee.

T he Central E xecu tive C om m ittee, through the 
Supplem entary H ealth Services C om m ittee has 
liasion w ith the South  African M edical an d  D en ta l 
C oun cil and w hen matters o f  im portance to P h y sio ­
therapists are being discussed on the C om m ittee, 
tw o  m em bers o f  th e C .E .C . attend the m eetings.

T h e Private Practitioners in the U n io n  have a 
v oice in their ow n  affairs through their local branch 
Private Practitioner’s L iasion Officer- w ho in t u r n , 
are represented on the C .E .C . by the Private 
P ractitioners’ Liasion Officer.

Student m em bers are encouraged to jo in  the 
S ociety before q ualifyin g and thus can attend all 
Branch M eetin gs o f  interest to  them . Later on 
b ecom in g trained P hysiotherapists they can be 
transferred to full mem bers.

W e w elco m e a g o o d ly  num ber o f  new  Student 
M em bers this year from  W itwatersrand U niversity 
and Pretoria P hysioth erapy S ch o o l. M ay they in 
tim e, put back som ething in to their S ociety by 
serving on com m ittees and helping generally to 
carry on w hat w as begun so m any years ag o  b y  the 
pioneers o f  P hysioth erapy in S outh  A frica.

C o n t e n t s
A F oundation M e m b ers’ Recollections— Anne H o d g e s .... 3

A R e c e n t T rip  A broad— D r. N. K lass ..............................  4

S hortw ave T rea tm e n ts— C ase H isto ry  N otes ............  6

General .................................................................................... g

B ranch N ew s 9

S tu d e n ts’ Column 1I

Book Review ........................................................................... 12

V acancies .................................................................................... 16

R ehabilitation T eam —

(N a tio n a l Council fo r C a re  o f C ripples) ............  15

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