
What is Rehabilitation Medicine? (also known as Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation or Physiatry)
Rehabilitation Medicine is a very fulfilling medical specialty that focuses on improving function and quality of life in everyone, no matter what their medical condition is! It’s the clinical medical specialty that is primarily focused on assessing and treating people who have reduced functional ability due to illness, disease or injury.
Rehabilitation medicine physicians (aka physiatrists) are specialist doctors who utilise the holistic biopsychosocial model of Engel which encompasses all of the biomedical, psychological and social aspects of health and life.
Extensive research has demonstrated that rehabilitation programs can improve function and quality of life for people with varied medical conditions that can be life-changing. Thes include persistent pain, deconditioning, heart disease, lung disease, stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputations, arthritis, long covid, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, following joint replacement and in recovery from fractures.
Rehabilitation medicine is also focussed on prevention, preventing and reversing the ill effects of hospitalisation and preventing further illness or disease once someone is affected by a sometimes life changing condition listed above.
As you can see, it is a pretty important specialty.

What do Rehabilitation medicine physicians do?
People often ask me what I do as a specialist doctor in rehabilitation medicine as they haven’t met many of us before. There are only about 450 rehabilitation physicians in Australia and if everything is going well with you and your family’s health, you won’t get to meet us professionally! We usually see patients once their acute (immediate) medical or surgical problem has been stabilised.
I describe our hospital role to Registrars who are training in Rehabilitation Medicine as having two major components:
1. Provide medical care to keep our patients well or help to make them well enough so that they can participate in rehab programs
2. Educate, motivate, guide and counsel people so that they want to participate in rehab programs
Rehabilitation medicine doctors working in hospitals are usually involved in interdisciplinary teams involving the patient and their family and carers as well as their clinicians including nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, psychologists, pharmacists, exercise physiologists and dietitians.
Outside of inpatient care, in private or hospital-based clinics, rehabilitation physicians provide medical treatment for pain and other medical conditions interfering with recovery. In this setting, we continue to assist people to restore their independence to continue to live their life in their place of choosing. We help people return to their enjoyable activities, driving, study and work. Our focus is always on helping people to live their best life.