T he healthcare professions havebeen called upon by government to
address diversity in the student popula-
tion as well as clinical and teaching 
personel.  Diversity of gender, culture
and religion are accepted and valued due
to the enrichment it brings to our profes-
sion and lives at all levels.  Diversity
pertaining to ideas and insight are of
equal value.

According to Longman’s dictionary
diversity is synonomous with variety
and different, both words that has a
promise of excitement, stimulus and
potential of something more than the
ordinary.  It has the potential of growth
and of deeper understanding.  Within a
culture of diversity there has to be
acceptance and appreciation of differ-
ences and similarities which enhances
the process of working together towards
a common goal.  This common goal in
the caring professions is ultimately the
wellbeing of the patient as well as the
wellbeing of the profession itself.

Diversity is found within the profes-
sion of physiotherapy at various levels,
for example between the public and 
private sectors, academic and clinical
settings and in the various fields of 
interest.  Within these settings there are
examples where physiotherapists have

found sufficient grounds for working
together by forming partnerships, as in
the more recent merger between Physio
Forum and the SASP with the obvious
positive results.

There is however much more scope
for working together as partners towards
common goals within the profession.  It
is evident in many spheres of physio-
therapy that there is not sufficient pro-
fessional trust and acknowledgement of
each other’s strengths and contributions.
Derogatory remarks are heard between
different interest groups and individual
physiotherapists and it becomes evident
in discussions that there is often a lack
of appreciation of the contribution indi-
viduals and different interest groups
make towards the growth and standing
of the profession.

Being a relatively small and belea-
gered profession, we can hardly afford
discord and division.  Our strength lies
in unity, sharing and acceptance of the
unique contribution each and everyone
can make.  It lies in utilizing potential
within groups and the profession as a
whole and supporting individuals to reach
their potential.  It lies in giving recogni-
tion to each other and saluting diversity.

RIA BESTER

G U E S T
E D I T O R I A L

EDITOR:
- C.J. Eales, PhD

University of the Witwatersrand

ASSISTANT EDITOR:
- A. Stewart, MSc

University of the Witwatersrand 

EDITORIAL BOARD:
NATIONAL MEMBERS
- S.L. Amosun, PhD

University of the Western Cape
- P. Gounden, PhD

University of Durban-Westville
- M. Papadoupolos, MSc

University of Pretoria
- M. Faure, MPhil

University of Stellenbosch
- N. Mbambo, MSc

MEDUNSA

INTERNATIONAL MEMBERS
- A. Akinpelu, PhD

University College Hospital,
Ibadan, Nigeria

- T.H.A. Kolobe, PhD
University of Illinois, Chicago  

- K. Shepard, PhD
Temple University, Philadelphia

- C. Partridge, PhD
University of Kent, Canterbury

REVIEW PANEL:
- Amosun, Dele
- Bester, Ria
- Bischof, Faith
- Bowerbank, Pat
- Crous, Lynette
- David, Helen
- Diener, Ina
- Eksteen, Carina
- Eisenberg, Mashe
- Faure, Mary
- Fearnhead, Lynn
- Frieg, Annette
- Giraud, Jill
- Hunter, Linda
- Irwin-Carruthers, Sheena
- Jelsma, Jennifer
- Kemp, Stephanie
- M’kumbuzi, Vyvienne
- Mothabeng, Joyce
- Mpofu, Ratie
- Papadopoulos, Magda
- Paulsen, Tom
- Potterton, Joanne
- Puckree, Lina
- Smith, Elsa
- Van Rooijen, Tanya

2          SA JOURNAL OF PHYSIOTHERAPY 2002 VOL 58 NO 3

SALUTING DIVERSITY