CFNC.org - Career Profile

866-866-CFNC(2362)

Print This

E-mail This

PDF This

Physiatrist What They Do

Diagnoses and treats disorders requiring physiotherapy to provide physical, mental, and occupational rehabilitation.

This career is part of the Health Science cluster Therapeutic Services pathway.

Documents examination results, treatment plans, and patients' outcomes.
Examines patients to assess mobility, strength, communication, or cognition.
Assesses characteristics of patients' pain such as intensity, location, and duration using standardized clinical measures.
Provides inpatient or outpatient medical management of neuromuscular disorders, musculoskeletal trauma, acute and chronic pain, deformity or amputation, cardiac or pulmonary disease, or other disabling conditions.
Monitors effectiveness of pain management interventions such as medication and spinal injections.
Develops comprehensive plans for immediate and long-term rehabilitation including therapeutic exercise; speech and occupational therapy; counseling; cognitive retraining; patient, family or caregiver education; or community reintegration.
Coordinates physical medicine and rehabilitation services with other medical activities.
Prescribes physical therapy to relax the muscles and improve strength.
Performs electrodiagnosis including electromyography, nerve conduction studies, or somatosensory evoked potentials of neuromuscular disorders or damage.
Consults or coordinates with other rehabilitative professionals including physical and occupational therapists, rehabilitation nurses, speech pathologists, neuropsychologists, behavioral psychologists, social workers, or medical technicians.

Dig into the details and check out what people in this job have to say about their work.

show all

People who do this job report that:

You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
Exposed to disease and infections more than once a month through work such as patient care, laboratory work, and sanitation control
Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
Work in this occupation involves sitting more than one-third of the time
Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:

Pain Management Physician -- Has special training in evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of all different types of pain.
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician --
Rehabilitation Physician --
Medical Director Acute Rehabilitation Unit Physiatrist --