FCAMPT Physiotherapy designation - What does it mean?

I am doing the last thing anyone wants to do during the summer. Instead of hitting the beach with friends, or driving up to the cottage for some R&R, I am spending much of my time this summer with textbooks, practicing with colleagues and mentors or driving to Guelph for weekend long courses. If it sounds like I’m complaining, I am not! I sincerely love what I do and want to be the best physiotherapist possible. So for me, this summer is dedicated to my studies and will be culminating on what I have worked very hard to achieve over the last five years of my career: The FCAMPT designation. This designation would recognize me as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Manual and Manipulative Physical Therapy. This designation is regarded as the highest level of manual therapy training that an orthopaedic physiotherapist can obtain. The training is focussed on developing very advanced clinical reasoning skills which come in handy for very complex orthopaedic patient cases and also give me the ability to safely and effectively perform peripheral and spinal manipulation to patients that require this type of treatment approach.

First of all, the FCAMPT designation requires extensive training beyond graduate studies. This is not something that happens quickly. Over the past five years I have completed six long courses, written five exams, taken one practical exam and participated in over 120 hours of mentoring. Obviously there are even more hours spent preparing outside of formal study.

In order to obtain this designation, I will be challenging what is called the Advanced Exam this fall in a two-part process that consists of a written and a practical exam. I am 1 of 80 physiotherapists across Canada that will be going through this examination process this fall. If everything goes as planned, I hope to achieve the FCAMPT designation and join an even smaller subset of practicing manual therapists (approx 1% of the physiotherapy population has achieved this level of training and expertise).

One of the reasons an FCAMPT therapist might be ideal for your injury is because they are rigorously trained in a patient-centred clinical reasoning process to address individual client needs. I feel the biggest improvement throughout this process has been to the way I approach my patients. I analyse their issues and concerns using an approach that is guided by research findings and using specific assessment techniques I am able to come up with an individualized treatment plan for my clients. Through this training and advanced education I am able to confidently take on more complex patient cases and attain very positive outcomes.

In a recent Cohort study, the clinical outcomes of patients who were treated by physiotherapists with their fellowship were compared with patients who were treated by physiotherapists who did not have their fellowship. The results indicated that fellowship trained physiotherapist had greater efficiency with their treatments (helped patients get better faster) in addition to achieving functional status changes.

It is also important to note that Fellows of CAMPT are internationally recognized and monitored by the International Federation of Physical Manipulative Therapists (IFOMPT). I take great pride in being a Canadian trained manual therapist. Canada has earned a name for itself internationally and has gained recognition as a leader in education. Lead Canadian instructors and examiners now travel abroad to implement training and education systems for physiotherapists worldwide.

At Rebalance we have a few physiotherapists who are designated Fellows and others that are working towards that status. This type of training is not mandatory for physiotherapists and post-graduate coursework is not a requirement. Ultimately, physical therapists that choose to pursue advanced training do so because we are dedicated and passionate about helping our patients achieve the best care possible and are committed to excellence! To learn more, please read our previous blog post on “Understanding your Physiotherapist’s Credentials”.

Contact us today and book in with one of our highly trained physiotherapists today and let us guide you to the road to recovery.