Editorial Editorial

Abstract

To recognize the importance of developing clinical protocols in the field of physiotherapy, it is first necessary to identify a brief definition: a Clinical Protocol is a set of recommendations regarding the diagnostic procedures required for a patient with a specific clinical condition; or regarding the most appropriate therapeutic intervention for a clinical diagnosis or health problem. 1

In the first instance, for the development of clinical protocols, a set of procedures necessary for the care of a specific health situation in the patient must be evaluated. Likewise, the protocols can be part of Clinical Practice Guidelines (hereinafter CPG). Ramírez et al. assert in their 2013 article entitled "Current State of Research and Main Barriers to Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) in Colombian Physiotherapists" that... "Evidence-based practice is defined as a process whose objective is the selection of the best scientific arguments for the resolution of problems that arise in clinical practice." The method used in this article was a cross-sectional, multicenter, descriptive study of 221 Colombian physical therapists with no prior training in EBP. This study confirms the limited scientific activity and the barriers that limit the inclusion of EBP among physical therapy professionals in Colombia, as well as the multiple change strategies that will be necessary to facilitate the inclusion of activities aimed at improving professional competence in this area. Consequently, and as cited in the aforementioned article, the importance of the physical therapist's work within the clinical setting lies. I emphasize that the clinical setting is the area where the most evidence can be extracted and where a clearer understanding of the process of evaluation, intervention, and re-evaluation of the procedures applied to the patient(s) can be obtained, having at our disposal all the tools offered by clinical reasoning from the levels of cognition and metacognition. Finally, the physical therapist will have the necessary skills and expertise to implement and develop clinical protocols and management guidelines based on scientific evidence. This allows, through the establishment of processes and procedures (protocols), the recognition of the physical therapist's work at an interdisciplinary level in the health field, the objective assessment of patients through the application of protocols, and the timely reintegration of patients into their social, occupational, personal, and emotional roles.