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Historical Perspective

The department of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Pennsylvania is the oldest in the country. Its development was central to the development of rehabilitation medicine as a specialty nationwide.

This report traces the history of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Pennsylvania from its beginnings in 1897 to the present time. It does so in the context of the influential role played by the department in that specialty elsewhere. Because of the dispersion of the department's concepts and practices by graduates of its programs, this history may be of interest not only to those vested in the University of Pennsylvania but also to others concerned with the evolution of Rehabilitation Medicine during the past 100 years.

Table of Contents

1. Rehabilitation Medicine (1897-1914)
   1. The Advent of R. Tait McKenzie
   2. McKenzie at the University of Pennsylvania
   3. Rehabilitation Medicine Before World War I
   4. The Orthopedic Surgeons Sponsor Physiotherapists


2. Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (1914-1919)
   1. R. Tait McKenzie (Continued)
   2. Rehabilitation Medicine - World War I
   3. Growth of Physical Therapy as a Profession
   4. Physical Therapy Physicians Become "Physiatrists"
   5. Physical Therapy Department and Laboratory at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP)


3. Rehabilitation Medicine (1940-1987)
   1. The Military Prepares
   2. Howard A. Rusk
   3. The Poliomyelitis Epidemic
   4. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
   5. Rehabilitation Medicine Becomes a Specialty
   6. George M. Piersol
   7. The University of Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Commission
   8. The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis
   9. The Piersol Rehabilitation Center
   10. Education in Rehabilitation Medicine at Penn
   11. The School of Auxiliary Medical Services
   12. William J. Erdman, II


4. Rehabilitation Medicine (1987-Present)
   1. The Department Deteriorates
   2. The "Penn Center for Rehabilitation"
   3. A New Chair is Appointed
   4. Rebuilding the Department

Postscript
Acknowledgements
References