Tanja Yardley and Allan Macdonald on the Future of Physiotherapy

Expert Series: Episode 8 with Tanja Yardley and Allan Macdonald

We sat down with Tanja Yardley & Allan Macdonald to discuss the Future of Physiotherapy including the impact of technology, the value of building your business skills & how to be involved as a leader in our profession.

As physiotherapists, we spend years learning how to treat the human body and focus a lot of energy, effort and time on our clinical skills. However, there are many other skills that we can develop to contribute to our professional growth individually and as a collective group.

Tanja observed that the healthcare system is changing quickly and in the next 10-15 years we are going to see advancements that we cannot even imagine right now.

A great analogy is if you picture rolling a snowball down a hill. It may start off as only a tiny snowball, but as it rolls downward it gains momentum and accumulates more and more snow. When it finally settles at the bottom of the hill it’s a snowball big enough to marvel at.

Al stated that technology will either augment what we do, un-touch what we do or replace what we do. It's in our best interest as physiotherapists to be involved in the decision making process of how technology will be used in our profession. 

Al also brought up the jobs to be done theory by Clayton Christensen and that if we choose to see innovation through a new lens we will see new ways to create value for our patients and our profession.

Finally Al and Tanja discussed the value of being a member of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association. Some key points included:

• Exposure to thought leaders
• The opportunity to have input into the future of our profession
• Having a unified voice as physiotherapists 
• The ability to affect change together.

About The Instructors:

Tanja Yardley, Physiotherapist , CBI Health

Vice President of Outpatient Services for CBI Health Group in British Columbia and past co-owner of Rehabilitation in Motion, Pro-Motion Consulting Ltd. (Multimedia Training Resources) and Ergonomics in Motion (Occupational Health and Safety Consulting). She previously chaired the Business Affairs Committee and served as Vice President on the Board of the Physiotherapy Association of British Columbia and she continues to serve in the Private Practice Division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association. She teaches internationally on clinical best practices and effective communication strategies for complex clinical cases and consults with numerous insurers on best practice service delivery models. She oversees the operations of 47 interdisciplinary clinics, providing mentorship and coaching to clinicians and managers who want to start, grow and sustain a successful healthcare practice. She recently co-authored a book on business ethics and best practices and regularly submits articles to trade publications. 

Allan Macdonald, BScHK, MScPT, MBA

Graduated from the Physiotherapy program at McMaster University and with an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University, Allan is a health care professional (Registered Physiotherapist) with clinical and administrative leadership experience in both inpatient and outpatient academic health care settings, with a well established ability to both influence and direct large inter-professional clinical programs. 

Currently the Director of Student Health and Wellness at Ryerson University where he is a member of the Ryerson Student Affairs senior leadership team which works in a collaborative manner to develop a portfolio of supports, programs and services for over 38,000 students. 

Also, he is co-chair the university level Ryerson Mental Health and Well-being Committee, and is responsible for the management, leadership and continued evolution of an integrated health and wellness portfolio that includes the Centre for Student Development and Counselling (CSDC), the Ryerson Medical Centre, and Health Promotion.