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Editorials |
President
American Physical Therapy Association
On behalf of APTA's Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Rebecca L Craik, PT, PhD, FAPTA, as editor in chief of Physical Therapy.
As many of you know, Dr Craik succeeds the late Jules Rothstein, PT, PhD, FAPTA, Editor in Chief Emeritus, under whose profound leadership Physical Therapy achieved worldwide recognition as the premier physical therapy scientific journal.
Today, editors of health care journals must provide bold leadership at a time when readers, authors, and consumers expect rapid dissemination of credible data that can be readily applied. There is no question that Dr Craik has the vision and experience to meet and exceed these expectations. A researcher with a formidable grant and publication record, she has represented the physical therapy profession at the National Institutes of Health and has served as chair of the National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research, influencing policy decisions within the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR). As an Editorial Board member and former interim co-editor and deputy editor of Physical Therapy and as a former editor of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, she has a keen understanding of scientific publishing.
Physical Therapy is in caring and capable hands. Dr Craik has an excellent understanding of the challenges that confront the Journal, and she is well-respected for her attitude of inclusiveness and collaboration. She is equally regarded for her intellectual and scientific integrity. These characteristics—critical to the success of peer-reviewed journals and of the professions that rely on them—will move Physical Therapy even further forward during her 5-year tenure.
Dr Craik, as many of you know, was the 36th Mary McMillan Lecturer at last year's APTA Annual Conference and Exposition in Boston. Her remarks, titled "Never Satisfied," outline some of her concerns regarding the state of physical therapy research. She said, for example, that "...there is still a huge gap—yes, I would say ‘chasm’—between the concept of using evidence and common clinical practice. I do not think that the relationship between the use of evidence and accountability is clear to us."1(p1229) She commented that "a common complaint is that busy clinicians have no time to read the literature and, therefore, are unaware of the findings. This complaint is understood, and it is up to all of us to figure out how to make information more accessible to the extremely busy clinicians."1(p1230) She also said, "Investigators will criticize [findings] and argue about the conclusions based on the sample size, the examination tools, and so on. Wonderful! That is what is supposed to happen; let's engage in some healthy debate about research."1(p1230)
The Board of Directors and I eagerly look forward to what the future will bring under Dr Craik's leadership. We also wish to thank Dr Alan Jette for his substantial contributions as acting editor in chief since January 2005. His expertise and willingness to serve at a critical moment in the Journal's history are greatly appreciated by all of us.
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