Congratulations on your interest in physical medicine and rehabilitation. As the Chairman of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, I would like to welcome you to our Web site. We hope the information we provide is informative and helpful in choosing a residency in our specialty. This field will enable you to challenge your clinical acumen and use all the humanistic qualities that you possess. You will have an opportunity to develop a long-term relationship with individuals with disabilities. They will require the best that you can give so that they can return to useful, productive, quality lives.

Physical medicine and rehabilitation as a medical specialty was established in the mid-1900's. The primary concern was to get military personnel back to the front with maximum function. Today, the goal of the physiatrist is to restore function, relieve pain and enable an individual to return to society by using a nonsurgical, multi-disciplinary treatment approach.

Our faculty, allied health professionals and facilities will provide you with an environment to allow you to deliver state-of-the-art patient care, acquire knowledge and do rehabilitation research. The residency program at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson/JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute is designed to train residents, clinically and academically, to enable them to excel in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Thomas E. Strax, M.D.
Chairman
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation