C o n t e n t s

E d ito rial ................................................................................................................................................................... ..P age 2

S om e C ontributions to Surgery o f  the H and

B y W illiam  G irdwood, B .Sc. (M ed.), M .C h .(R a n d ), F .R .C .S .(E d in .), F .R .C .S .(E n g .)................P a g e  3

E lectrical N erve Stim ulation in T rau m a  by M iss J .  B lair ...................................................................... ..P a g e  8

W orld C onfederation o f P hysical T herapy— R eport o f T hird In tern a tio n a l Congress ................. ..P a g e  10

G eneral ................................................................................................. ......................................................... ..P a g e  12

Students Column ...................................................................................................................................................... ..P a g e  12

B ranch News ...................................................................................................................................................... ..P a g e  14

V acancies ......................................................... ................................................................................................. ..P a g e  16

C .A .M .P .......... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ......P a g e  16

Page 2 P H Y S I O T H E R A P Y  December, 1959

E D I T O R I A L

GR E E T IN G S  for C hristm as and the N ew  Year, 1960, to friends and co llea g u es in South 
A frica and overseas from  the E ditor and C om m ittee.

W hen this jo u rn a l g o es to  press, the students in 
the three training sch o o ls, W itw atersrand U n i­
versity, Pretoria H o sp ita l P hysioth erapy S ch o o l and 
Cape T o w n  U n iversity S ch o o l, w ill be busy with 
their year-end exam in ations. M o st certainly all 
m em bers w ish  them  the best o f  luck and successful 
results, and assure them  all o f  a hearty w elcom e 
in to the ranks o f  trained P hysioth erapists, and as 
m em bers o f  the S o u th  A frican S ociety o f  P hysio­
therapy in the near future.

A s each new  year approaches it b eh o v es us, 
each and everyon e to take tim e o ff to  exam ine 
ourselves and our w ork. W e m ust ask ourselves 
on ce again w hether w e are givin g o f  our best. W e 
m ust n o t be co n ten t to  carry on year after year 
using the sam e techniques and exercises. W e m ust 
use our in itiative, w ork ou t n ew  schem es o f  treat­
m ent and in ven t a new  ap proach  to old  problem s,

thereby n o t on ly inspiring our patients alon g the 
road o f  recovery, but also help in g ourselves. 
M a n y  old , hitherto w ell th o u g h t o f  techniques, have 
been p roved  useless w hen  put to test by research 
workers. W e m ust beware w e are n ot w asting our 
tim e or that o f  our p atients, by carrying o n  doingj 
w orthless treatm ents. By reading recent publi­
cation s, attending lectures and p o st graduate courses 
w henever p ossib le, we can, and m ust, keep abreast 
w ith the times.

D urin g O ctober the N a tio n a l C o u n cil for 
the Care o f  Cripples h eld  their N in etee n th  A nnual 
G eneral M eetin g  in Johannesburg. Here it 
w as m ade very clear h o w  rehab ilitation  in  South 
A frica has progressed. G reat strides have been 
taken  in the laym an ’s approach to o , to  the 
crippled and hand icap ped  person. It was an 
inspiration to  all th o se w ho attended the various 
m eetin gs and session s to learn h o w  m u ch  is being 
d one in  the. cou n try through  the auspices o f  the 
N a tio n a l C ouncil.

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