Musculoskeletal Pain: Where Physical Therapy Practice Stands and Where It Is Heading

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who see people with musculoskeletal pain and want a current, plain-language summary of the frameworks and evidence shaping that care.

Licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in outpatient, hospital, primary care, and community settings. The material is also relevant to rehabilitation clinicians in physical and rehabilitation medicine settings who manage musculoskeletal pain.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Introductory

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

Fullen BM, Wittink H, De Groef A, Hoegh M, McVeigh JG, Martin D, Smart K. Musculoskeletal Pain: Current and Future Directions of Physical Therapy Practice. Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation. 2023;5:100258.

Special communication, published open access under a CC BY license on behalf of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Every claim and figure in this course traces to that article.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe how the biopsychosocial model, as presented in this review, frames musculoskeletal pain assessment and where the authors say clinician confidence in applying it varies.
2. Name the three broad categories of pain mechanisms described by the International Association for the Study of Pain and state where the review says each tends to dominate.
3. Explain what the review reports about the strength of the evidence behind electro-physical modalities, manual therapy, exercise, patient education, and self-management support for musculoskeletal pain.

1. Start Here: how this course works
2. The Podcast: Musculoskeletal Pain in Physical Therapy Practice (about ten minutes)
3. Why the Authors Revisited Musculoskeletal Pain Practice
4. How a Special Communication Builds Its Picture of Practice
5. Assessment, Risk Stratification, and Communication: What the Review Reports
6. Treatment Evidence: Manual Therapy, Modalities, Exercise, Education, and Self-Management
7. Where the Evidence Runs Thin and What the Authors See Coming
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. Based On
2. Fullen BM, Wittink H, De Groef A, Hoegh M, McVeigh JG, Martin D, Smart K. Musculoskeletal Pain: Current and Future Directions of Physical Therapy Practice. Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation. 2023;5:100258.
3. Special communication, published open access under a CC BY license on behalf of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Every claim and figure in this course traces to that article.