Inclusion of physical medicine and rehabilitation in the medical curriculum: A step in the right direction.

Abstract

Background Although physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) was first introduced in India in the 1960s, it was not until the 1990s when it was offered as an optional rotation to Indian medical graduates. Lately, with the introduction of a competency-based undergraduate curriculum in 2018, PMR has been included as an essential subject in the medical graduate curriculum, to be implemented from 2019. We aimed to ascertain the importance of incorporating PMR in the medical graduate curriculum while also discussing the awareness about PMR among Indian healthcare professionals. Methods We drafted an online questionnaire-based survey and sent that to participants through cloud-based software. Responses were collected over a period of 4 weeks and a descriptive analysis was performed. Results The initial hypothesis was that most healthcare professionals would be unaware of the scope of PMR as a medical specialty. The results of this study did not support our hypothesis with 96.8% of the participants being familiar with PMR as a medical specialty. In addition, 85% of the participants reported being introduced to PMR either in their medical school or during their residency training and 92% of the participants appreciated the late integration of PMR within the medical graduate curriculum. Conclusions Introduction of medical graduates to PMR would help in bridging the gaps faced by people with disabilities in accessing healthcare facilities. It would also help clinicians from other specialties to collaborate with physiatrists in a more coordinated manner.