Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies organized its First 3-day virtual international conference on Recent Advancement in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation.

The chief guest for the inaugural ceremony was Dr. Amit Bhalla, Vice President, MREI, and Dr. Sanjay Shrivastava, Vice-Chancellor MRIIRS graced the ceremony as the guest of honor.

Dr. Amit Bhalla emphasized upon the fact that after a certain injury, the surgery and its success is largely dependent upon how good the physiotherapist is. He also shared his own personal success story after a sports injury and how it benefitted him in the road of recovery. He said, “The physiotherapy department at Manav Rachna is close to everyone’s heart as several of our staff benefit from it and it is an integral part of our lives now”.

This conference was inaugurated by the welcome address by Prof. Dr. Moattar Raza Rizvi, Dean & Officiating HoD.

The eminent speakers of the day were Prof. (Dr.) Ali Irani – Head of Department of Physiotherapy at Nanavati Superspeciality Hospital; Dr. Deepak Kumar, Director & Sr. Consultant Manual Physiotherapy; Dr. Pooja Anand, Associate Dean, SGT University, Gurugram University and Dr. Fuzail Ahmad, Head of Quality Assurance and Academic Accreditation at the College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia.

The first session was delivered by Dr. Deepak Kumar, where he explained the role of ‘Manual Therapy: Art of selecting the right patient’.

Dr. Deepak explained the various red flags and yellow flags and how the physiotherapists should select the various signs and symptoms to select the patient for manual therapy management after a complete assessment is done by the doctor.

The second talk was delivered by Prof. (Dr.) Ali Irani the Head of Department in Nanavati Hospital, Mumbai. Dr. Irani has always been associated with Manav Rachna in one way or the other and for many years has been the guiding force here. Dr. Ali shared his valuable inputs on Sports and Brain Mapping and its recent advances in the field of physiotherapy. This is the basic principle that is used to develop new engrams to prevent the chance of reinjuries based on the concept of neuroplasticity. The session was loaded with new concepts and several questions were asked by the enthusiastic physiotherapists with an interest in learning it beyond this workshop.

This conference is aimed primarily to fill the significant gaps in knowledge about finding and utilizing the best technologies to reduce disability. Advances in rehabilitation contrast dramatically with advances in all other medical areas. As new technologies enter the market or the research development track, physical therapists increasingly are in positions to either guide or lead the development team, working with engineers to adapt and modify existing technologies or develop new technologies to enhance rehabilitation, prevent decline, monitor change or maintain healthy living.