Although the history of the physiotherapy profession does not go back to very old years it is a professional health speciality field that is accepted and developing all over the world. Since the early 19th century physiotherapy education developed rapidly. With the diversity of evidence-based physiotherapy practices the definition and the working areas of physiotherapists have also expanded.
Due to the interest and demand for the physiotherapy profession the number of universities providing physiotherapy and rehabilitation education is increasing rapidly in Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as in many countries. As the number of physiotherapists and the variety of diseases increased specialization in different fields of physiotherapy other than general physiotherapy became inevitable. Physiotherapists who are an important element of the multidisciplinary teamwork approach have the opportunity to work in almost every field of medicine. In the contemporary curriculum taught for students in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation departments the subjects of practice and expertise other than traditional physiotherapy approaches are included under the subject heading of "Special Topics in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation". However there is a lack of basic and supplementary textbooks on these special topics. The main purpose of our book is to provide an English guide resource on the subject with up-to-date information which is currently lacking in the field of physiotherapy literature in Turkey for academics physiotherapists and physiotherapy students.
The author staff of the book "Special Topics in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation" consists of academic colleagues from universities across Turkey and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus who are experts in their fields. I would like to express my gratitude to my esteemed academic friends who accepted to be the chapter author of this book despite their heavy workload for their devoted work and contributions.
I would like to thank all the employees of the Hippocrates publishing house especially Ali Çelik and
Hüseyin Çağlıkasap who worked devotedly and meticulously at every stage of the book making efforts to print the book in a colourful fast and perfect manner and to reach every corner of the country.
We have tried to create an up-to-date evidence-based resource for our students colleagues and all related scientists by summarizing as much as possible a wide range of special topics related to Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation. I hope this book will be a reliable helpful source of guidance.
With my love and regards
Prof. Dr. Hülya Harutoğlu