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No Descriptor Required

I want to respond to the August 2002 Editor's Note ("Autonomy and Dependency") because it a subject that has distressed me for several years. I certainly agree with our Editor's concerns that the use of the phrase "autonomous practice" in describing the manner in which physical therapists practice today or how they aspire to practice in the future does not comport with the dictionary definition of "autonomous" (ie, "having the right to power of self-government; undertaken or carried on without outside control; self-contained; existing or capable of existing independently of the whole; responding, reacting, or developing independently of the whole"¹).

After searching old records and an even older but failing memory bank, I believe I have discovered why the phrase "autonomous practice" was selected. I am certain that some of our younger members will have difficulty comprehending the role of physical therapists in delivering their services several decades ago. It was one of almost total subservience to medicine in general, and to one specialty group in particular.

Our arduous struggle to extricate ourselves from this bondage over the course of many years and to become more independent in all aspects of our education and practice is a tribute to the tenacity and foresight of our predecessors. When conditions began to become more tenable for our profession, we acted like a group of oppressed people when freed of their bondage, whatever the cause.

At that time, the word that seemed to describe best our eventful accomplishment was "autonomy," sort of like "freed at last." Our emotional exuberance blinded us from studying the word "autonomous" more carefully. If we had, we would have never chosen autonomy to denote what we were attaining or wished to attain in the future.

I believe now is the time to correct the grave error made by my generation of physical therapists for our poor choice of words. Therefore, I would urge that—in an attempt to more accurately inform consumers, the general public, and the medical or political community of interest about how we want to be represented—we strike the term "autonomous practice" from all statements generated by our profession.

One may rightly ask whether I have a substitute to offer in the place of "autonomous practice," and my answer is no, simply because a descriptor for the practice of physical therapy is not required.

Charles M Magistro

135 Camellia Ct
Upland, CA 91786

References

1. Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. Springfield, Mass: Merriam-Webster Inc;1996 .

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