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.

A survey exploring the needs, preferences, and challenges of the key stakeholders for participating in and developing pulmonary rehabilitation in Pune, India

“…7 Limited formal training on PR for HCP and a resulting small proportion of physiotherapists opting for cardiopulmonary specialty further contributes to this challenge. 12 , 13 While PR benefits are widely accepted in high income countries, there is a dearth of evidence from the Indian healthcare setting. Only two studies identified the benefits of PR in a systematic review in LMICs, both were classified as being at moderate risk of bias.…”