PM&R Residency Training Program Enhances Rehabilitation Service at Long Beach Medical Center
Rebecca Fishman, D.O., Program Director,
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Programs
In 2006, Long Beach Medical Center’s post-graduate residency training program in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation was the first osteopathic physical medicine and rehabilitation residency program in New York and the second such osteopathic program in the nation. This innovative training program provides the Medical Center’s patients with the most up-to-date expertise in rehabilitation medicine.
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is a medical specialty concerned with diagnosing, evaluating and treating individuals with physical disabilities. The primary goal of treatment is to maximize physical, psychosocial and vocational function through a comprehensive multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. Resident doctors work with patients with a variety of conditions including: stroke, orthopedic and sports injuries, head trauma, spinal cord injuries, amputations, pain management, and developmental conditions such as cerebral palsy.
Directed by Rebecca Fishman, DO, the program has six residency positions. Residents enter the program after graduating from medical school and completing a one-year internship. During their three-year program, residents train in each of the Medical Center’s three levels of rehabilitative care, including its hospital-based inpatient rehabilitation unit – The John B. Cullen Rehabilitation Unit, its nursing home-based sub-acute rehabilitation program – The Komanoff Center for Geriatric and Rehabilitative Medicine, and its outpatient rehabilitation programs (Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Pathology).
Approval and full accreditation for the program is granted by the American Osteopathic Association and the American Osteopathic College of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Long Beach Medical Center’s internship and residency programs are affiliated with the New York Institute of Technology/New York College of Osteopathic Medicine.