Physiotherapy in Industrial Surgery

John Stanley Coulter, MD, and the Emergence of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Early 20th Century

“…At the outset of the war, Frank Billings chose Coulter to take the assignment in France to be in charge of the “first overseas convalescent and rehabilitation hospital” [1]. Coulter's exposure there to various rehabilitation methods, aimed at restoring function to wounded soldiers with physical agents and exercise, inspired him to apply these concepts in his civilian practice [9]. Encouraged by Mock and Magnuson, who both had experience in industrial medicine before the war, Coulter resigned from the army in 1920 and joined Magnuson's industrial medicine practice in Chicago [1,10].…”

“…Mock, Magnuson, and Coulter continued their collaboration in Chicago over many decades. Coulter and Magnuson coauthored more than 40 articles on industrial medicine, and together with Mock they participated in industrial medicine courses for physicians [9]. Mock started one of the first hospital physical therapy departments at St. Luke's Hospital in the early 1920s and Coulter succeeded him there [3].…”

“…These articles, on industrial medicine topics such as “workman's backache” appeared in multiple volumes of the prestigious International Clinics, coedited by Charles Mayo of the Mayo Clinic. The visionary leadership of Coulter and Magnuson is expressed in the following statement: “Physiotherapy proved its value during the war in the treatment of war injuries, and is now proving its value in the treatment of practically the same class of injuries in industry” [9].…”