American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine 75th anniversary.

Abstract

Despite an explosive growth of rehabilitation programs for the disabled in the years following World War II, a national professional organization that could provide a forum for exchange of scientific information on an interdisciplinary basis about multiple disability concerns did not develop. Specialization of research, education, and practice in rehabilitation has increased markedly among basic scientists, engineers, nurses, occupational therapists, orthotists and prosthetists, physical therapists, physicians, psychologists, social workers, speech pathologists, and vocational counselors. This specialization... has caused many rehabilitation-related personnel to seek a central focus of professional interaction through interdisciplinary communication. The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine has undergone reorganization to invite multidisciplinary membership and participation in programs advancing the arts, sciences, and practices of rehabilitation medicine. This report reviews the methodology by which the reorganization was accomplished and records the progress made in restructuring membership, program, publications, and governance. The membership body is now multidisciplinary with full participation in the scientific forum on an interdisciplinary basis by those who are active in and contributing to the advance of medical rehabilitation services for the disabled.