Physical medicine and rehabilitation clerkships in medical school: A valuable and integrated addition to the advanced clerkships.

Abstract

The medical specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) focuses on quality of life, function, ability, and interdisciplinary care. PM&R clerkships are uniquely qualified to teach medical students about rehabilitation and the spectrum of postacute care, medical knowledge, and medical decision making related to health care affecting people with disabilities, health care disparities affecting people with disabilities, and the communication and teamwork strategies to provide a patient-centered approach to optimize function and outcomes. PM&R clerkships can be used to fulfill stakeholder and governing body requirements, such as medical knowledge, rehabilitation, critical judgment, health disparities, ethics, communication, teamwork, and patient-centered medical care, in order to maintain accreditation and provide a high-quality education This review provides both a rationale for a medical student clerkship in PM&R and an effective example of such an experience that has been implemented during medical school training.