The International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists (IFOMPT) marked its 50th anniversary in July in Basel, Switzerland, at its general meeting and conference.
General meeting
The IFOMPT general meeting, 3 July 2024, was attended by 85 people.
Activities at the meeting included:
- discussion of progress on IFOMPT’s strategic plan
- executive committee elections
- name change
- new IFOMPT member organisations
The following people were elected to serve on the executive committee:
- president: Paolo Sanzo
- vice president: Nathan Hutting
- Pierre Roscher
- Bart Vanthillo
- Dusty Quinn
After the outcome of the election was announced, IFOMPT issued a statement stating that having five men on the executive committee was not acceptable and confirming the steps IFOMPT will take to address this.
A majority of participants at the meeting voted to change the specialty group’s name from International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists to International Federation of Manual and Musculoskeletal Physical Therapists.
The following associations became IFOMPT member organisations:
- Brazilian Association of Orthopedic Physiotherapy and Traumatology (ABRAFITO)
- Colegiul Fizioterapeuților din România/Order of Physiotherapists in Romania
This brings the number of IFOMPT member organisations to 27.
IFOMPT was recognised as World Physiotherapy's (then World Confederation for Physical Therapy) first specialty group (then subgroup) at the general meeting in 1978.
Conference
Almost 1,700 people attended the IFOMPT conference, 4-6 July 2024.
The theme for the conference was crossing bridges – between research, clinical practice, education,
patients’ perspectives and the needs of society, and the future of musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapy and IFOMPT’s role in tackling the global MSK burden.
Laura Finucane, IFOMPT president 2020-2024, said: “A huge thank you to the Basel team for a conference and a celebration to remember. This was a very special conference with IFOMPT celebrating its 50th anniversary and there was much to celebrate.
“The conference brought together some of the best hearts and minds of the international manual and musculoskeletal community to connect, debate and discuss the future. I believe we should celebrate what got us here, however, as we look ahead, we need to respond to the ever-changing landscape and align ourselves to our global vision and start to make a meaningful difference in the growing musculoskeletal burden.”
