Teaching of rehabilitation medicine

Physical medicine and rehabilitation embrace a wide spectrum of activities in both the medical and surgical fields. Possibly more than any other physician, the physiatrist must participate in teamwork with paramedical personnel.Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation must be established in all university faculties of medicine to provide training at both pre- and postgraduate levels.Medical students should receive at least 25 hours of lecture-demonstrations in appropriate centres. Composite case presentations to students, which would allow the physiatrist and the paramedical personnel each to discuss their role in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment, are advocated.Vocational considerations for the future physiatrist, including the duration of his training, the program of study and the type of examinations proposed, are discussed briefly.