In plain English
Physical medicine and rehabilitation is a physician residency, and a physiatrist is a doctor - which is the first thing anyone searching the word is usually trying to establish. The specialty's subject is function: what a person can do after a stroke, a spinal cord or brain injury, an amputation or a long-term musculoskeletal condition, and how to improve it.
Physiatrists direct rehabilitation teams of physical, occupational and speech therapists, prescribe, perform diagnostic electromyography and image-guided injections, and manage spasticity, prosthetics and bracing. They are the non-surgical counterpart to orthopaedic and spine surgery, and interventional pain medicine is a large sub-specialty within the field.
Sub-specialties include pain medicine, spinal cord injury medicine, brain injury medicine, neuromuscular medicine, sports medicine and pediatric rehabilitation.
The word physiatrist is searched far more often than the specialty's formal name. They are the same thing: on the public record the classification reads physical medicine and rehabilitation, and that is what a list is filtered on.
Training and credentials
Medical school, a four-year physical medicine and rehabilitation residency, then board certification; sub-specialty fellowships add a year.
Where they practise
Inpatient rehabilitation facilities and hospital rehabilitation units, outpatient musculoskeletal and spine clinics, interventional pain practices, skilled nursing, academic departments.
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation on the public record
Counted from what providers file about themselves, with suppression applied before anything is counted, refreshed 2026-10-05. Names, specialties and practice locations are public; work email and phone are for signed-in customers.
| State | On record | With work email | With practice phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 3,047 | 1,619 53% | 3,047 |
| New York | 2,689 | 1,393 52% | 2,689 |
| Texas | 2,337 | 1,339 57% | 2,336 |
| Florida | 2,273 | 1,011 44% | 2,273 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,435 | 828 58% | 1,435 |
| New Jersey | 1,331 | 626 47% | 1,331 |
| Michigan | 1,177 | 693 59% | 1,177 |
| Illinois | 1,151 | 682 59% | 1,151 |
Closely related, and where to find them.
Closely related
- Physical therapist Movement and function, doctoral entry, and mostly clinic chains rather than individuals.
- Orthopedic surgeon Bones, joints and spine - and the device-heavy specialty that owns its own surgery centres.
- Neurologist Brain, spine and nerve medicine - filed on the record beside psychiatry.
- Occupational therapist The everyday-tasks profession, and why occupation does not mean employment.
Find them
- Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation list counts by state, the fields a record carries, a sample record.
- Physicians physician data by specialty, state and employer.
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