8th N A T IO N A L C O U N C IL M EETIN G Page 2 P H Y S I O T H E R A P Y December, 1969 SO U T H A F R IC A N SO C IE T Y OF P H Y S IO T H E R A P Y - O CTO BER, 1969 Presidential A ddress P ro fesso r B . B rom ilow -D ow n ing, M .B ., C h .B ., P ro fesso r o f M ed ica l E ducation and D ea n o f the F acu lty o f M ed icin e, U n iversity o f C ape Town P ro fesso r B r o m ilo w -D o w n in g at the 8th N a t io n a l C o u n c il M e e tin g paid trib u te to the U n iv ersity o f C a p e T o w n w h ich had m ade it p o ssib le fo r him to be present a t th e m eetin g. B e in g a great b eliev er in th e sa y in g “ It’s n o t w h a t y o u say b u t h o w y o u sa y it” he felt it w a s im p o r ta n t to d eliver his a d d ress in p erson, a n d w e, the m em b ers o f th e S o u th A frica n S o c ie ty o f P h y sio th e r a p y w ere prou d to h ave o u r P resident w ith us. In o p e n in g his ad d ress P ro fesso r B r o m ilo w -D o w n in g e m p h a sised the great sto r e h e p laced o n th e office o f President o f th e S o u th A frica n S o c ie ty o f P h y sio th er a p y an d told us o f h is early in te rest in th e “ p a ra m ed ica l” p r o fe ssio n s in ­ c lu d in g P h y sio th e r a p y a n d h o w o n e o f his first task s as D e a n o f th e F a c u lty o f M ed icin e w a s to in tr o d u ce the D ip lo m a C o u r se at th e U n iv e r sity o f C a p e T o w n . P ro fesso r B r o m ilo w -D o w n in g d w elt o n th e e v o lu tio n o f a p ro fessio n and attem p te d to d efine w h at c o n stitu te s a p ro fessio n . F iv e o f th e d istin g u ish in g attrib u tes o f a p r o ­ fe ss io n are, he sa id , (i) sy ste m a tic th e o ry , (ii) a u th o rity , (iii) c o m m u n ity sa n c tio n , (iv ) eth ica l c o d e s, a n d (v) a culture. “ In the d e v e lo p m e n ta l p ro cess o f a p r o fe ssio n it is n ecessa ry that a fo rm o f m o n o p o ly is th e resu lt. In o th e r w o r d s the p r o fe ssio n a l sk ill b e c o m e s d e v e lo p e d to su ch a d eg ree that o n ly m em b ers o f the p ro fessio n are co m p ete n t to perform a cts p erta in in g to that p r o fe ssio n . L o o k in g at th e m edical a n d legal p r o fe ssio n s to d a y in th is c o u n tr y the m o n o p o ly is, in fact, p rotected b y le g isla tio n . It is the sin ce re h o p e o f all em erg en t p r o fe ssio n s o r p r o fe ssio n s th a t h ave recently em erg ed that su ch a sim ilar leg a lly backed p ro fessio n a l p r o te c tio n will c o m e their w ay, n o t in their o w n in terest but in the in terest o f th o s e m em b ers o f the p u b lic w h o m they w ish to se r v e .” T h is m o n o p o ly , h o w e v e r , m ust h a v e a b u ilt-in regu lative c o d e w h ich c o m p e ls eth ica l b e h a v io u r o n th e part o f its m em b er s, thu s g a in in g p u b lic c o n fid e n c e w ith o u t w h ich a p ro fessio n c o u ld n o t retain its m o n o p o ly . P rofessor B r o m ilo w -D o w n in g stressed that in h is o p in io n a further d istin g u ish in g a ttrib u te o f a p r o fe ssio n is the rea lisa tio n by p ractisin g m em b ers th e m selv es o f th e n eed to im p o se u p o n th e m selv es a c o d e o f p ro fessio n a l eth ics. A p ro fessio n a l so c ie ty m ust o f n ecessity h a v e tw o fu n c ­ tio n s, the first b ein g t o lo o k after the p ecu n iary o r financial in terests o f its m em b ers, i.e. salaries, c o n d itio n s o f services etc. (T h e “ T rade U n io n ” fu n c tio n ), th e se c o n d b ein g a ' “ p r o fe s s io n a l” fu n c tio n w h ereb y th e so c ie ty u n d erta k es to m a in ta in the stan d ard s o f service p ro v id ed b y its m em b ers to th e p u b lic and w h ereb y it v o lu n ta rily im p o s e s u p o n itself a d iscip lin a ry c o d e o f eth ica l c o n d u c t. P ro fesso r B r o m ilo w -D o w n in g ex p la in ed th a t a p ro ­ fe ssio n a l so c ie ty c o u ld n o t giv e unq ualified a ssista n c e to m em b ers w h o feel a g g riev ed a s a result o f a p erso n a l situ a ­ tio n , u n less the q u e stio n is o n e o f p r o fe ssio n a l prin cip le and n o t a m a tter o f p erso n a l d iscr im in a tio n . In v iew o f past e v e n ts he th o u g h t th e S o c ie ty m ig h t in v estig a te an in su ran ce p o lic y as p r o te c tio n fo r its m em b ers. P h y sio th er a p y , in o u r P resid en t’s o p in io n , is a m o n g s t the first o f the p aram ed ical p r o fe ssio n s su fficien tly w ell d e v e l­ o p e d , o rg a n ise d , and c o n tr o lle d to be sub jected to c o m p u l­ so r y registration . “ T h e strength o f a p r o fe ssio n ca n be m easu red b y the stren gth o f th e p ro fessio n a l a ss o c ia tio n . A g g riev ed m em b ers o f a n y p r o fe ssio n a l a ss o c ia tio n d o n ot act in th e b est in terests o f their a ss o c ia tio n by ten derin g their resig n a tio n . N o c a u se h as ever b een w o n by r esig n a tio n . A g g riev ed m em b ers sh o u ld rem ain w ithin th e so c ie ty and fight their o w n b a ttles a n d n o t em b arrass their fello w m em b ers b y resign in g and w ea k e n in g their c a u se ” . A further piece o f e x c e lle n t a d v ic e offered b y o u r P resident w a s that rules o f p roced u re sh o u ld be strictly a d h ered to in all c o m m itte e w o rk . “ S h ort cu ts, in d isc r e tio n , ta lk in g o u t o f C o m m itte e a n d the lik e ca n o n ly lead to a c h a o tic situ a tio n ,” h e said . F in a lly P ro fesso r B r o m ilo w -D o w n in g s a i d : “ Y o u r S o ciety e n jo y s th e h ig h est regard o f th e m em b ers o f m y C o m m itte e o f the M ed ica l C o u n c il a n d I w o u ld lik e here to p ay tribute to th e w ork d o n e by th o se m em b ers o f y o u r S o c ie ty w h o give up so m u c h o f their tim e to c o n sid e r a tio n o f p rob lem s p erta in in g to the p r o fe ssio n and to w a it o n m y C o m m itte e w h ich is s o very d e p e n d e n t o n a d v ic e g iv en . I am sure that few m em b ers here p resen t k n o w o f the d e v o tio n to d u ty and d e v o tio n to th e in terests o f their p r o fe ssio n at th e c o s t o f their o w n p erso n a l tim e g iv en b y s o m a n y o f th e m e m b e r s.” T h e P resident then c o n c lu d e d b y w ish in g th e Sou th A frica n S o c ie ty o f P h y sio th er a p y a further su cc essfu l year in 1 9 6 9 /7 0 and in particu lar a p rofitab le an d en jo y a b le N a tio n a l C o u n c il M e e tin g . R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. )