Name of the specialty

INFORM project 1. Name of the specialty and the medical specialist

Survey 1

Most medical specialties are easily immediately recognised globally: neurology, cardiology, geriatrics, paediatrics, orthopaedics, etc. We however do not have a unified position globally on the name of our speciality / medical specialist. The name of our specialty among the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM) national member societies varies with three main alternatives

·      Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R)

·      Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM)

·      Rehabilitation Medicine (RM)

Similarly, the name of the specialist varies with three main alternatives

·      Rehabilitation physician

·      PM&R/ PRM/ RM physician

·      Physiatrist

This situation within our specialty can be argued as lacking a uniform and concerted approach. This adds to other variations in the scope of practice, skill set, training requirements and influence within regulatory and health policy bodies. Lacking standardisation of our names and professional roles could hamper recognition and consequently workforce growth and working across global geographical boundaries. Given the lack of full recognition and popularity we already face compared to other medical specialties in many countries, the lack of consensus on the name could not be helping our case for growth, recognition and impact on patient care. 

The first INFORM survey gathers opinion on the current position form all countries and whether we could all work towards a global uniform name and understand the impact of such consensus in each country. We requested a single response from every country and encourage colleagues to discuss responses internally and submit a single majority view from each society/ country. The purpose of the survey is to facilitate an initial debate among country representatives and work towards bringing much-needed uniformity globally.

The results of this survey will be discussed in an international workshop at the ISPRM Conference on Monday 5th June 2023 https://isprm.org/. We request all country representatives to participate in the workshop debate to derive a consensus and recommend a uniform name for the specialty and specialist. A workshop report will be sent back to every participating country for further discussion within their society/ country.

Results of Survey 1

These are the results so far (these will be updated on a regular basis). Several countries conducted internal surveys of full membership and provided majority view responses shown below. Others provided majority view of the Society Executive or Board. Responses that were individual views or views of a close circle of colleagues in an institution are not displayed here, as countries have been requested to provide either majority Society membership views or Society Exec Council response.