Physical medicine and rehabilitation clinical experiences: A narrative review of curricula and educational interventions

Abstract

Physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) is a specialty of medicine that focuses on function and the care of people with disabilities. Many medical schools offer PM&R content by means of PM&R clerkships for career development purposes with varying curricula and assessments; however, there is limited information regarding the optimal way to teach clinical skills relating to the field of PM&R. This narrative review study was performed to evaluate PM&R specific clinical curricular interventions. The review included a PubMed search that yielded 63 articles and a Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) search of 175 articles. A total of 14 articles were selected for review. PM&R clerkships were found to have a variety of educational interventions, including inpatient and outpatient clinical experiences, lectures, Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), case discussions, written examinations, physical examination sessions, cadaver sessions, small group discussions, and virtual education. PM&R rotations can improve neurologic and musculoskeletal physical examination skills, PM&R specific knowledge, and confidence in PM&R skills. More research is needed to determine the optimal methods to teach and assess PM&R knowledge and skills in the clinical setting to drive future PM&R curriculum development and educational innovations.