Be Better Thinkers

Well if that was a backward step, I don’t want to know forwards!

Huge thanks for all the support for MSKMag’s launch issue. Our writers, editors, designers and readers proved plenty of doubters wrong by making a success of supposed ‘throwback’ written content. So here’s to 10 years of MSKMag… since that’s now the Physio Matters standard!

It would be fairly dull for my reflections on issue 1 to focus solely on creation, structure and market reaction, so you may assume those to be overwhelming successes and I can get stuck into my thoughts on the content! After all, that’s what I’m obsessed with - raising MSK care standards. All our articles have gone down really well and without fail have provoked productive conversations regarding the interesting ooos and ahhs of MSK practice. Some examples:

• Tom Jesson begged the ultimate question - ‘Nature or Nurture’. Dogmatists did not enjoy his conclusion...
• Nicola Graham called the MSK industry an enigma and we received LITERALLY ZERO responses to indicate that she had missed any data that would have quenched her thirst.
• Derek Griffin delivered perhaps the edgiest article of issue one and challenged the ‘Just in Case’ complacency of many imaging requests. Those who read it were convinced. Those who only read the headline inserted their own takes and entirely justified Derek’s concerns!

So it’s on this last point that I want to offer my take. Some professional, adult humans read only the headline of a thoroughly referenced opinion piece about MSK imaging requisition and gave their opinion on both the article and the subject matter without reading it. Now I’ve been in this game for a while, and have lived in this world a while longer still, so I can’t pretend I’m surprised; but I can admit I’m disappointed. At Physio Matters, we have spent both time and money over the years fighting the phenomenon of elitism. There remains people in the MSK industry who don’t value the opinions of lay clinicians simply because they can’t quote chapter and verse after every opinion. BUT one sure fire way of emboldening them is to weigh in on an article without even reading it. If we want a truly open fora for debate, which contributes to real progress in our industry, then it is incumbent upon all of us to be better thinkers.

Speaking of better thinkers, this issue is an absolute treat!

Susan Julians MSc MCSP MMACP is one of the most interesting people in MSK right now and is about to prise your mind open on what you may have thought was a closed issue; stretching. Claire Robertson reminds us why she’s known the world over as ‘Claire Patella’ with a fantastic article on crepitus. As one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the industry, Tim Allardyce knows a thing or two about opening a clinic, so he gives his insights from experience. Paul Ingraham proves why he is ‘The OG’ of MSK writing with an excellent piece on compensatory injuries and we introduce Ben Whybrow who invites us to sit in the mud… I won’t spoil his metaphor by explaining!

Editors shouldn’t have favourites, but all our best ideas start with puns so I was destined to adore our agony aunt column - Auntie Version by Jo Turner ! I am sure you’re going to love it and draw much wisdom from it.

Be warned though, there are some tear jerkers in there!

Jack Chew

Editor in Chief