Welcome from our Chairman

Thank you for visiting the University of Washington Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Website. You can use this site to learn about our wonderful department and its diverse clinical, educational, and research programs, as well as its dedicated faculty and staff. The Department of Rehabilitation Medicine began in 1957 and continues to excel in its mission of patient care, education, and research in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. The department has been ranked in the top 3 rehabilitation programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report for more than eleven years and is the highest ranked hospital based rehabilitation program.

We provide inpatient rehabilitation care at the University of Washington Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, and the Veteran’s Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System. In addition, we have several outpatient clinics throughout the Seattle metropolitan area.

We have many highly regarded educational and training programs including medical student clerkships, a residency program in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and fellowship training in several areas. In addition, we have degree programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and prosthetics and orthotics. In 2006, we added a Ph.D. graduate program in Rehabilitation Science.

Research is a major component of our department. We are consistently in the top 2 for NIH funding for Rehabilitation departments. We have NIDRR funded Model System grants for spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, and collaborate with the Department of Surgery on the Burn Injury Rehabilitation Model System. We also have a Research and Training Center grant for Multiple Sclerosis and a Program Project grant in Chronic Pain. We have a state-of-the-art Human Motion Analysis lab, as well as ongoing basic and clinical research studies.

Thank you again for visiting our website, and I hope you will find the information you are looking for regarding our Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. Please contact us at rehab@u.washington.edu with any comments or questions you may have about the department and our website.

Peter C. Esselman, M.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington

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