FAQs: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Physiatry)
Q. Who are the Rusk physicians?A. The physicians at Rusk Institute, all of whom specialize in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, are faculty members in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of New York University School of Medicine. They also maintain their own private practices. Rusk physicians are well known in the United States and abroad for clinical excellence and play a prominent role in the academic field of rehabilitation medicine.
Q. What is the role of Rusk physician?
A. The doctor functions as a team leader, designing
the care plan and coordinating the other team members in its implementation.
The Rusk physician also provides general medical care of rehabilitation
inpatients.
Q. What is the role of the rehabilitation residents?
A. Our residency training program in Rehabilitation
Medicine is the oldest and among the largest in the world. Rehabilitation
medicine resident physicians come to us after they have completed a
one-year internship in Internal Medicine, General Surgery, or an equivalent.
They obtain a license to practice medicine independently by the time
they graduate and receive their specialty board certification in Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation after one year in practice and passing a
certification examination. The duration of the training program is three
years, during which resident physicians care for patients and participate
in academic activities under the supervision and guidance of Rusk's
attending physicians.
Q. What about medical students?
A. Our department works closely with the NYU School
of Medicine and is actively involved in medical student education. Medical
students may spend time at Rusk during any of their four years of medical
education; during the last two years, they are given progressive responsibilities
in taking care of patients and learning to become a member of the healthcare
team.
