About Us

Our mission is to improve the function, level of independence, and quality of life of persons who have disabilities brought about by illness, injury, or of congenital origin. The Department fulfills this mission by providing regional and national leadership in patient care, education, research, and through its academic and clinical faculties, who represent a broad spectrum of scientific and clinical disciplines.

• Patient Care: The Department operates comprehensive rehabilitation services at five hospitals:
  • University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC)
  • Harborview Medical Center (HMC)
  • Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS)
  • Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center (CHRMC)
    
  Each hospital has multidisciplinary teams to provide both inpatient and outpatient services to persons with a wide range of disabling conditions. Specialty clinics provide services to the entire Northwest region for persons with musculoskeletal disorders, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, post-polio disabilities, electrodiagnosis, disabled driver training, assistive technology, pediatric disabilities, amputation, spinal cord injury, sports injuries, spine disease, and brain injury.
  
• Education & Training: The Department's educational programs are multidisciplinary. Occupational therapy, Physical Therapy, and Prosthetics and Orthotics teaching programs are based in the Department. The physical therapy and occupational therapy programs are entry-level Doctorate and Master's degree programs, respectively. The prosthetics and orthotics program is a two-year baccalaureate program, we have a multidisciplinary PhD program in Rehabilitation Science. More than 70 students are admitted each year to these programs. UW medical students complete a two- or four-week chronic care clerkship with department faculty.

  The PM&R (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) residency also has a strong didactic component, which benefits from access to teachers and students in the other curricula. The PM&R residents work directly with medical students and also share some didactics with the allied health students. Residents train at the five hospitals within our system as well as several private practice settings.

• Research: The Department has had a strong commitment to research since its inception. The Department is the leading recipient of federal research grants to PM&R departments in the country. We currently have "model systems" funding for spinal cord injury, brain injury, and burn rehabilitation. Current areas of research include spinal cord injury, brain injury, motor disorders, amputation, multiple sclerosis, burns, cerebral palsy, disabilities related to aging, chronic pain, assistive technology, evaluation of surgical treatments for spasticity, spinal cord recovery, the prevention of pressure-induced skin damage, and neural control of movement. Postgraduate research training opportunities are available through an award from the National Institutes of Health.

UW Department of Rehabilitation Medicine:
The Department of Rehabilitation Medicine was established in 1957 and Justus F. Lehmann, M.D., was recruited from Ohio State University as its first Chairman. At the time, the Pacific Northwest had virtually no rehabilitation care for those with physical disabilities.

The charge given to Dr. Lehmann was to develop research, training and clinical care in medical rehabilitation. He established the residency training program in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and divisions of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Prosthetics and Orthotics. The first physiatrists were graduated from the residency training program in 1963; today over 246 physiatrists have been trained by the Department.

Dr. Walter C. Stolov was Chairman from 1987 to 1999. Dr. Lawrence R. Robinson was Chairman from 2000 - 2006. Dr. Peter Esselman is the current Chairman.

Picture taken at the Annual Lehmann Day Symposium, 2003. From left to right: Dr. L. Robinson, Dr. J. Lehmann, Dr. W. Stolov.

UW School of Medicine:
The School of Medicine opened in 1946. It is located in the Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Center on the south campus of the University, along with the Schools of Dentistry, Nursing, Public Health and Community Medicine, Pharmacy, and Social Work.

The School of Medicine is a regional resource for Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho, and a nationally and internationally recognized leader in medical education, patient care, and scientific research. Its regular and research faculty of over 1300 is the second largest in the nation. US News & World Report has ranked the UW in the top 10 Best Medical Schools in the nation, and 1st for Primary Care.

University of Washington:
The University of Washington was founded in 1861 on a ten-acre knoll in what is now downtown Seattle, and moved to its present 660-acre site on the shores of Lake Washington in 1895. The University offers instruction in more than 200 academic disciplines to approximately 34,000 students.

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