VCU Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

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History

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Overview

Administrative offices for the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine are housed in the historic Egyptian Building on the university’s MCV Campus. Considered one of the finest examples of Egyptian Revival architecture in the U.S., the building originally housed the Medical Department of Hampden-Sydney College, and later the Medical College of Virginia. A grant from the family of Simon Baruch, M.D., funded a complete restoration of the Egyptian Building in 1939.

Interestingly, the department’s roots can be traced back to 1862, when Baruch — “the father of hydrotherapy in America” — graduated from MCV. In recognition of his father’s accomplishments Bernard Baruch formed the Baruch Committee on Physical Medicine at MCV in 1940. Clinical physical therapy had been initiated at MCV in 1935 and services increased significantly after 1940 when Drs. Frank H. Krusen and John S. Coulders visited the institution. The committee granted $250,000 to MCV in 1944 to initiate a program of research and education in the area of physical medicine, with special emphasis on spa therapy, hydrotherapy and climatology. This marked the official formation of the department as the Baruch Center of Physical Medicine.

Dr. Frances A. Hellebrandt was the center’s first director and became its first chair when the center achieved departmental status in 1947. A basic research laboratory was established by Drs. Ernst Fischer and Clifton B. Cosby in 1944, and a school of physical therapy, leading to a four-year Bachelor of Science degree, was formed two years later. A clinical research division of the center under Hellebrandt also was initiated in 1946, and a clinical division was established by Josephine J. Buchanan, M.D., the following year. The activities of the newly established departments were consolidated into a single building in 1949.

In 1951, Heldbrandt resigned and Dr. Walter J. Lee served as acting chair for the following year. He was succeeded by Dr. Herbert Park, who remained chair from 1952 to 1960. Dr. Park continueed to be involved with resident education as a clinical professor until his death in 2004. Under Park’s leadership, the department transitioned from a predominantly physical medicine-based service to a physical medicine and rehabilitation program. A specialized 100-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital (Memorial Hospital) was established, physical therapy services were expanded to meet inpatient needs, an occupational therapy section was established (1953), an audiology and speech training area were opened (1953), specialized nurses trained in rehabilitation were employed and a recreational supervisor was hired. In addition to providing inpatient rehabilitation to individuals with residual disability following acute hospitalization, consultation services were provided for individuals in the acute hospital; lectures in physical medicine and rehabilitation were given to medical students, physical therapy students, occupational therapy students, nurses, house officers and general physician staff; and research continued to emphasize clinical applications of hydrotherapy and spa therapy.

The department increased its involvement in the acute care services of the Medical College of Virginia Hospital for the next 15 years, under the leadership of distinguished physiatrists such as Drs. Charles Cohen, John Redford and Lawrence Amick.

In 1975, the department began to achieve increased national exposure under the leadership of Dr. Ernest Griffith. A year later, a young researcher in the field of mental retardation, Paul Wehman, Ph.D., joined the VCU Department of Education. In the mid-1980s, Wehman joined the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation to team up with Jeff Kreutzer, Ph.D., (1984) and Chairman Henry Stonnington, M.D., (1983-88) — a partnership that contributed to VCU becoming an international leader in brain injury and neurosciences rehabilitation. Importantly, around this time of growth, Susan Mellette, M.D., (1980-83) and Guy Clifton, M.D., (1988-90), two non-physiatrist interim chairmen, helped consolidate strong clinical relationships with oncology and neurosurgery, respectively, that continue to exist today. Continuing academic and clinical relationships also were established during this time with Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center and Children’s Hospital.

The department diversified its clinical and research activities under the strong leadership of Karen Rucker, M.D., (1990-98). In addition to securing research support in pain, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation under Rucker’s tenure, the department expanded its clinical practice to the community, greatly increasing resident exposure.

Program development included pediatric and adult subacute, day rehabilitation, interventional pain and musculoskeletal services. Inpatient rehabilitation services were consolidated in the Rehabilitation and Research Center in 1992, and David X. Cifu, M.D., became its first medical director that year.

Rucker also was successful in recruiting additional physician-researchers, including Cifu and Drs. William McKinley and Mark Huang, allowing the department to continue its long tradition of publications and research dissemination. Herman J. Flax, M.D., a 1940 MCV graduate and an international leader in the field of PM&R, established the department’s first endowed professorship in 1997. Cifu, who joined the department in 1991, succeeded as chairman in 1998, and became a Herman J. Flax, M.D., Professor in 1999. Cifu also has been responsible for consolidating the department’s position in the community into a program that complements the strong academic mission of the department.

The department has expanded its funded research expertise to include cancer, stroke and amputee rehabilitation, while maintaining a strong national and international leadership position in brain and spinal cord injury. In 1998 U.S. News and World Report listed the department among the Top 20 PM&R programs nationally.

In keeping with its nationwide educational efforts, the department has co-sponsored a traumatic brain injury conference for the past 24 years and a spinal cord injury conference for eight years. The department currently admits five PGY-2 residents annually to its residency program. More than 75 percent of residency graduates have remained in the mid-Atlantic region, typically in eastern Northern Carolina and Virginia, and one in five graduates remains in academics at colleges and universities ranging from California to Puerto Rico to Michigan.

Throughout its history, the program has placed a strong emphasis on inpatient neurologic rehabilitation and research. The department is looking forward to continuing high levels of research and academic productivity, and in the coming years, forging stronger relationships with community partners and developing an even greater diversity of resident exposure.