Approach to clinical practice for Physiatrists or PM&R physicians and its development in Chile

Summary

Introduction: medical activity does not end when the disease subsides. This has been demonstrated by people with severe COVID-19, who do not speak of recovery until months after discharge from the hospital. Under this premise, it is worth delving into the role of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Materials and Methods: a review of the literature was carried out in Spanish and English-speaking journals indexed in scientific databases. The search criteria were directed to the objectives: define physiatry and its position within the healthcare model, know its areas of performance and the national reality. Results: physiatry is the medical specialty that is responsible for optimizing people's functioning through rehabilitation techniques and strategies. Once the trimodal diagnosis is established, the physiatrist proposes objectives that involve the entire rehabilitation team, after agreement with the patient and his family. It falls under the biopsychosocial model and its spectrum of action includes any health condition or pathology - congenital or acquired - that generates physical, cognitive or emotional dysfunction, a limitation in activity or some degree of restriction in participation. Despite the almost 60-year development of the specialty in Chile, there is a lack of knowledge about it and its clinical scope. Discussion: it seems important to have in Chile channels and dissemination agents about the role that physiatry plays as a resource that makes the restitution of people more efficient; Lines of research, development of subspecialties and the decentralization of care should be promoted.