Medical physics deals with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases with a specific goal of improving human health and well-being. Since 2008, medical physics has been included as a health profession according to International Standard Classification of Occupation of the International Labour Organization.
Physical medicine and rehabilitation, also known as physiatry, is a branch of medicine that aims to enhance and restore functional ability and quality of life to people with physical impairments or disabilities. This can include conditions such as spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, strokes, as well as pain or disability due to muscle, ligament or nerve damage. A physician having completed training in this field may be referred to as a physiatrist.
Manual therapy, or manipulative therapy, is a physical treatment primarily used by physical therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists to treat musculoskeletal pain and disability; it mostly includes kneading and manipulation of muscles, joint mobilization and joint manipulation. It is also used by Rolfers, massage therapists, athletic trainers, osteopaths, and physicians.
Frank H. Krusen was an American physiatrist. He is regarded as a "founder" of the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation. He founded the first Department of Rehabilitation at Temple Hospital in 1928. Physiatrists remember his scholarly contributions, most notably through his numerous contributions to the medical literature on the use of therapeutic modalities in medicine, and his foundational textbook, Physical Medicine, published in 1941, and subsequently titled, Krusen's Handbook of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 1]. Dr. Krusen was the driving force behind the establishment of the first residency program in Physical Medicine at Mayo Clinic in 1936. He was also a charter member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) and served as its president from 1941-1942. His focused on the field on education, research, and collaboration with other colleagues in medicine and rehabilitation services, a framework for professional activities that remains relevant for PM&R in the 21st century.
The Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering research about musculoskeletal rehabilitation, orthopaedics, physical therapy, and sports medicine. It was established in 1979, following the founding of the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine sections of the American Physical Therapy Association and resulted from a merger of the Bulletin of the Orthopaedic Section and the Bulletin of the Sports Medicine Section. Initially published quarterly, the journal is now monthly. It is abstracted and indexed by PubMed/MEDLINE and CINAHL.
Clinical Lung Cancer is a peer-reviewed medical journal that has been published by Elsevier since 2011. It was established by the CIG Media Group in 1999.
The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) is the national medical specialty society in the United States for physicians who specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R). These physicians are called "physiatrists" or "rehabilitation physicians". Founded in 1938, AAPM&R also offers education, advocates for PM&R, and promotes PM&R research.
Leighton Chan is an American medical researcher and rehabilitation physician. He is Chief of the Rehabilitation Medicine Department and Acting Chief Scientific Officer/Scientific Director at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center.
David Xavier Cifu is an American physiatrist, researcher, and medical educator. He is the Associate Dean for Innovation and System Integration in the School of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, the chairman and Herman J. Flax M.D. Professor of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia, staff physiatrist at the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center (HHM-VAMC), founding director of the VCU-Center for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering and senior TBI specialist in the Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Health Administration.
Maurice Lenz was a pioneer in the field of radiation therapy. Born in Kovno, Russian Empire, Lenz studied at New York University and Bellevue Medical College, and received his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1913. He was a professor of radiation oncology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, a past president of the American Radium Society and held many other clinical and administrative roles throughout a long career in medicine.
The American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR) is a monthly peer-reviewed journal that covers topics in radiology. It is published by the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) and is based in Leesburg, VA. The current editor-in-chief is Andrew B. Rosenkrantz.
The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) is an organization of rehabilitation professionals dedicated to serving people with disabling conditions by supporting research that promotes health, independence, productivity, and quality of life; and meets the needs of rehabilitation clinicians and people with disabilities.
The Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA) is a peer-reviewed medical journal published by Elsevier twelve times a year as of January 2013. It is the official journal of the American Medical Directors Association. The journal covers all aspects of long-term care and geriatrics. JAMDA's readership includes internists, family/general practitioners, nurses, rehabilitation therapists, researchers and persons interested in caring for older persons.
The American Radium Society is a medical association devoted to the study and treatment of cancer. It was founded in 1916.
Peter G. Levine was an American medical researcher, science educator, and authority on stroke recovery. He published articles in peer-reviewed journals on brain plasticity as it relates to stroke, with emphasis on modified constraint induced therapy, cortical reorganization, telerehabilitation, electrical stimulation, electromyography-triggered stimulation, mental practice, cortical plasticity, acquired brain injury, spasticity, sensation recovery, evidence-based practice, outcome measures, and others. His articles have been widely cited by the medical community. His 2013 book Stronger After Stroke is regarded as an authoritative guide for patients and therapists dealing with stroke and it has received numerous positive reviews, and has been translated into Indonesian, Japanese, and Korean. His seminars throughout the United States were described by one reviewer as "funny, entertaining, engaging, dynamic, well organized, passionate and lighthearted." Levine was a trainer of stroke-specific outcome measures for The Ohio State University; B.R.A.I.N. Lab. He was a researcher and co-director at the Neuromotor Recovery and Rehabilitation Laboratory at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Before that, he was a researcher at the Human Performance & Motion Analysis Laboratory, which is the research arm of the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation.
Eleanor D. Montague was an American radiologist and educator who established breast-conserving therapy in the United States and improved radiation therapy techniques. She became a member of the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.
Carl Gustaf "Gösta" Abrahamsson Forssell was a Swedish medical researcher and professor in radiology and radiotherapy. He headed the radium clinic at Serafimerlasarettet in Stockholm and then its successor Radiumhemmet. His publications defined what became known as the "Stockholm method" of cancer therapy.
Julie Kathleen Silver is an American medical researcher who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Harvard Medical School. Her research considers musculoskeletal disorders and cancer rehabilitation. Silver is involved with several initiatives to improve gender equity in medicine.
Amy Joy Houtrow is an American pediatrician and physical medicine and rehabilitation physician. She is the Endowed Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Caridad Borrás is a Spanish medical physicist. Her career started in 1964 at the Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona. From 1988 to 2000 she was Regional Advisor of the Radiological Health Program and from 2000 to 2002, Coordinator of Essential Drugs and Technology at the Pan American Health Organization in Washington DC. Borrás has actively promoted among health administrators in Latin American and Caribbean countries that medical physicists and radiation protection experts are an essential requirement to achieve high-quality radiation oncology and diagnostic imaging procedures. She has received several awards, including the Edith H. Quimby Lifetime Achievement Award from American Association of Physicists in Medicine.
