The need for physical medicine and rehabilitation as an integral component in the medical education curriculum in India

Abstract

Enhanced quality of health care and increased life expectancy come with issues about the quality of life. This challenge is especially relevant to physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM and R)—a specialty focused on enhancing the quality of life. With the increasing burden of chronic diseases and disabling conditions, requirement for PM and R specialists will increase. This narrative review discusses the changing demographics, the disability trends, and the unmet needs both at present and anticipated in future. We also discussed problems faced by the present training system in PM and R, identified the lacunae, and attempted to provide suggestions to fill those.

Keywords

• curriculum
• medical education
• patient care
• pm and r