Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Course Details - Fees, Subjects, Syllabus, Duration, Eligibility, Career Scope

What is Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) is field of medicine helps people regain different bodily functions they may have lost due to medical conditions or injury. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) are very helpful for people all over the world suffering from physical disabilities and disfigurations. Sometimes, these conditions cannot be cured but, in most cases, these conditions can be improved tremendously, and even completely cured. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) plays a very important role in this regard. This rehabilitation can be helpful for various functions, such as bowel movement, bladder problems, swallowing issues, any kind of movement or mobility problems, or problems with speech, language, and motor skills.

Unlike some other medical job profiles, where the main aim is to ‘cure’ the patients of the ailments they suffer, physiatrists focus on helping people improve their conditions as much as possible, to help them live as independently as possible and improve their quality of life. They work with the muscles and bones of the patient’s body and create comprehensive treatment plans for each patient.

The main focus of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is to help the patients complete basic daily tasks on their own, such as bathing, going to the bathroom, getting out of bed, and picking things up among other such actions. Sometimes, the goal is even to restore complete functioning in a particular body part. These goals change depending on the severity of the patient’s condition.

Eligibility Criteria (UG & PG) of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Students need to follow the blow listed eligibility criteria:

• To become a Physiatrists/ PMR specialist, students need to have MBBS degree along with MD/ DNB/ Diploma in PMR(Physical medicine and Rehabilitation).
• MD/ DNB in Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation is a three years specialization course.

Students can also be apart of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation team as Physiotherapist, Occupational therapist, Speech therapist, Clinical psychologist, Rehab Nurses. To become these healthcare professionals, students do not require any MBBS degree. 

• Students who want to become health professionals need to pursue BPT/ BOT, MPT/ MOT, B.Sc Nursing to join the team.
• They can even pursue other courses that are offered by Rehabilitation Council of India.

Below, we have mentioned some of the courses that are offered by Rehabilitation Council of India.

BPT and MPT degrees are recognized by IAP (Indian Association of Physiotherapists and Indian Association of Chartered Physiotherapists) and BOT and MOT degrees are registered by Academic Council of Occupational Therapy (ACOT).

Entrance Exams

All students wishing to pursue Physiatrists/ PMR specialist career, must appear for NEET. They must apply for the NEET exam and complete all the procedures to receive their admit card. After receiving this, they can sit for the exam. The NEET scores will determine the level of the institution the student will be admitted to. The higher the score, the better the level. This exam is also completely merit-based.

After the merit-based selection is over, the selected students will be called for counselling based on their ranking. The students will be asked to select their preferred colleges, based on their ranks in NEET. This is the procedure for MBBS students.

To pursue an MD in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation also, NEET has been made compulsory, in government, as well as private colleges. However, some big universities like AIIMS and JIPMER still have their entrance tests and procedures for the selection of suitable candidates.

MBBS Exams:

• NEET PG: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test is organized by the National Testing Agency. It is an entrance examination for all students that wish to pursue medical and dental courses in India, in government, or private colleges. It consists of 180 questions with negative marking.

MD in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Exams

Apart from NEET, some other entrance examinations include:

• AIIMS PG: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences Post Graduate entrance test is conducted by the AIIMS Institute for all the students that wish to study medical and dental courses within the college.

• JIPMER: The Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research entrance test is conducted for all those students that wish to study medicine and dentistry courses at JIPMER Institute.

Required Skillset for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Apart from a very strong knowledge about the workings of the body and experience in the field, physical medicine and rehabilitation workers require some other important skills. A few of these skills include:

● Empathy: The Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation workers must maintain a good balance of empathy and detachedness. They must be empathetic to the patients and try to understand their daily struggles. They must also be polite and treat the patients with care. However, if they get too emotional, it may lead to a feeling of guilt within them, which is not good for the rehabilitator or the patient.

●  Communication Skills: Good communication skills are highly required for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation students. They must be effective and efficient in communication and maintain good relations with the patients as well as their team members.

●  Teamwork Skills: Teamwork skills are also very important for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. These doctors often work in close contact with one another to help the patients in the best way possible. The doctors must know when to listen to authority and when to take charge, without any ego or personal issues coming in-between.

● Muscle-Power: Muscle-power is also very important in this course as rehabilitators will be working with different parts of their patient’s body, massaging and exercising it. Good stamina and muscle-power are required to help the patient effectively.