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The earliest documented origins of actual physical therapy as a professional group date back to Per Henrik Ling, “Father of Swedish Gymnastics,” who founded the Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics (RCIG) for massage, manipulation, and exercise.
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Physical therapists were officially recognized by the National Board of Health and Welfare.
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Four nurses in Great Britain founded the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
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School of Physiotherapy at the University of Otago in New Zealand started formal training programs.
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Reed College in Portland, Oregon graduated the first physical therapists, known as "reconstruction aides".
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Polio outbreak in the United States promoted physical treatments.
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The U.S. entered World War I on this date. The Medical Department of the U.S. Army created the Division of Physical Reconstruction. The staff (mainly women called reconstruction aides) provided massage, hydrotherapy, and other physiotherapy treatments to disabled veterans. The reconstruction aides were divided into two groups - 1 group provided the treatments listed above, and 1 group provided vocational training for employment. These groups became PTs and OTs.
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A group of former reconstruction aides from the Division of Special Hospitals and Physical Reconstruction of the U.S. Army met and formed the American Women's Physical Therapeutics Association (AWPTA). In the first year the membership included 274 members from 32 states.
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The AWPTA began a quarterly publishication titled the "P.T. Review". The publication was a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal.
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The organization changed its name to reflect the need to include men as the organization grew.
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Treatment through the 1940s primarily consisted of exercise, massage, and traction. Manipulative procedures to the spine and extremity joints began to be practiced, especially in the British Commonwealth countries
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War Emergency Training Courses began in preparation for the anticipated entry of the U.S. into the second World War. Physical therapists were the new equivalent to the first World War's reconstruction aides, and were trained to assist wounded soldiers to recover and return to combat or their pre-war occupations.
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The HOD is the branch of the APTA today that creates standards and legislative bylaws of the Association in regards to physical therapy practice and the profession.
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Commonly known as the APTA today.
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Physiotherapists move to outpatient orthopaedic clinics, public schools, universities, rehabilitation and medical centres.
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Specialization for Physical Therapy in the United States occurred with the Orthopaedic Section of the APTA being formed for those Physical Therapists specializing in Orthopedics.
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In the 1980's, the explosion of technology and computers led to more technical advances in rehabilitation. Some of these advances have continued to grow, with computerized modalities such as ultrasound, electric stimulators, and iontophoresis with the latest advances in therapeutic cold laser
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The 1990's brought much attention to manual therapy, with formal residency programs becoming more numerous. During the summer of 1991, Norwegian manual therapist Freddy Kaltenborne helped create the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy (AAOMPT).
