Special certification in physical medicine and rehabilitation: yesterday and tomorrow

The Zeiter Lecture is given annually to honor Walter J. Zeiter, MD, the first executive director of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. In this lecture, I discuss the certification process for specialists in physical medicine and rehabilitation. I look at the history of initial certification, discussing the origins of both the written and oral examinations. I trace the development of these examinations and comment on potential developments in the initial certification process. I discuss the development of maintenance of certification in organized medicine and physiatry and comment on its future direction in physiatry.