Rehabilitation medicine (or “physiatry”) is the medical branch that deals with restoration of function in patients with disabilities.
A rehabilitation physician (rehabilitation medicine physician or “physiatrist”) is a doctor specialising in Rehabilitation Medicine. In Singapore, rehabilitation medicine is a distinct medical specialty and rehabilitation physicians are credentialled by the Specialists Accreditation Board (SAB) of the Ministry of Health, Singapore.
A rehabilitation physician is competent in managing a wide range of medical conditions and complications common to the disabled patient. In addition, a rehabilitation physician is an expert on chronic diseases or injury and consequent impairments and disabilities. We focus on improving function through a wide range of medical and non-pharmacological interventions. We are often the leader of a specialty multidisciplinary rehabilitation team, which may include nurse clinicians, physical, occupational, and speech therapists, psychologists, medical social workers, as well as prosthetists and orthotists. We also aim to advocate for patients with disabilities and reduce the burden of handicap for families and society at large.
Many rehabilitation physicians choose to sub-specialise within a certain field in rehabilitation medicine. These sub-specialty fields include stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, musculoskeletal medicine, amputations, pain medicine, sports medicine, cancer rehabilitation, geriatric rehabilitation, and neuromuscular conditions/electromyography (EMG).
In Singapore, rehabilitation physicians may choose to practice in a general hospital, university hospital, community hospital, or in the private setting. Many rehabilitation physicians are also members of the Chapter of Rehabilitation Medicine in the College of Physicians, Academy of Medicine, Singapore.
