Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

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The study of medicine is “the science of preventing, diagnosing, alleviating, or curing disease”(freedictionary.com). Prehistoric medicine primarily consisted of using herbal healing, animal parts, and holy or medicine men. The Greek doctor, Hippocrates, is known as the “Father of Medicine.” It is after Hippocrates that the Hippocratic Oath is named. Every medical graduate must say the Hippocratic Oath. Another noteworthy in medicine is Galen, a Greek surgeon, who conducted surgeries of the eyes and brain which were not attempted for two following millenia. (Wikipedia) “After 750, the Muslim Arab world had Hippocrates’ and Galen’s teachings translated into arabic” (Wikipedia).

Physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), or physiatry is a branch of medicine which aims to enhance and restore functional ability and quality of life to those with physical impairments or disabilities” (Wikipedia). One of the first pioneers of PM&R was Frank H. Krusen, MD. In 1936, he developed a Department of Physical Medicine which was established at the Mayo Clinic. In 1938, the term “physiatrist” was suggested to encompass physicians specializing in physical medicine. A major catalyst in the need for physical medicine was the United States entry into World War II. The amount of injured soldiers returning home in need of treatment was a prime focus. In 1947, Dr. Kusen, Walter Zeiter, and John Coulter succeeded in creating the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. (American Academy of PM&R, 1)

“The common conditions that are treated by physiatry are sport injury, amputation, spinal cord injury, and musculoskeletal pain syndromes” (Wikipedia). The primary purpose of rehabilitation is restoring the person to t...

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... during office hours. UC Davis UC San Diego is consistently ranked in the top ten schools by many different agencies. UCLA is the largest UC in the system and known for an excellent education. UC Davis also has an excellent biology department and premedical program.

Finally, Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo is another good choice for obtaining the Premedical education. For the last one hundred years, this school has educated student with the guiding principle of “learn by doing”. There are over 19,000 students at Cal Poly and over 80% are employed or attend some sort of graduate school within one year post graduation. Their acceptance rate for Medical School is not listed. Class size is more reasonable than the UC’s but still larger than St. Mary’s. (Cal Poly Website)

Works Cited http://www.aapmr.org/academy/historyb.htm http://www.mcw.edu/display/docid13674.htm

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