About Us

Welcome to the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Kentucky!

Physiatry is a medical specialty concerned with preventing, diagnosing, and treating disabling diseases, disorders, and injuries by physical means. Combining the Greek root words for "physical" and "healing," it can be simply stated that a physiatrist promotes physical healing in addition to other aspects of medicine*. 

Unlike other specialties, medical rehabilitation is not limited to one organ system. Physiatrists must give attention to the whole person while focusing on the medical and functional aspects of human performance. Physiatrists work to restore disabled persons to the fullest possible level of physical, mental, social and economic independence. Additionally, they evaluate individuals in relation to the disease and how it affects and is affected by the person's family, social environment status, and special interests.

*Paraphrased from The History of Physiatry, a pamphlet published by The Association of Academic Physiatrists