As a medical student, do you ever wonder what it's like to specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation, also known as physiatry? Meet AMA member Amit Patel, DO, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist and a featured doctor in the AMA's “Shadow Me” Specialty Series, which offers advice directly from doctors about life in their specialties. Check out his insights to help determine whether a career in physiatry might be a good fit for you.
The AMA's Specialty Guide simplifies medical students' specialty selection process by highlighting major specialties, detailing training information and providing access to related association information. It is produced by FREIDA™, the AMA Residency & Fellowship Database®.
Learn more with the AMA about the broader medical specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation.
“Shadowing” Dr. Amit Patel
Specialty: Physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Practice setting: Group practice.
Employment type: Independent contractor for a group within Medrina, in Tampa, Florida. Medrina is part of the AMA Health System Member Program, which provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.
Years in practice: 11.
What the specialty of physiatry is: Also known as physical medicine and rehabilitation, physiatry is a medical specialty that focuses on restoring function and quality of life to people with physical disabilities or injuries that affect the brain, nerves, bones and muscles. Physiatrists focus on reducing pain and maximizing independence for patients.
A typical day and week in my practice: A typical day is three to four hours of rounding followed by four to six hours of documentation/billing. I also engage in occasional mentorship with other providers in the group. I usually work 50- to 60-hour weeks.
The most challenging and rewarding aspects of physiatry: Working in skilled nursing facilities has led to a very complicated geriatric population that is often part of a readmission cycle. These patients have trouble regaining their functional level and regaining their overall quality of life, but when they do, it makes the work that much more rewarding.
In addition to that, improving quality of care, patient outcomes and patient satisfaction in skilled nursing facilities is quite rewarding. This includes boosting partnership and collaboration between primary care teams, specialists, nursing staff, patient families and more.
The impact burnout has on physiatry: It’s significant, and it’s often driven by paperwork. Most physicians want to see more patients, but the administrative burden and the risk of burnout prevent them from doing so.
How Medrina is reducing physician burnout: Medrina’s leadership is constantly reviewing technologies and strategies to make documentation more efficient to minimize its burden.
How my lifestyle matches, or differs from, what I had envisioned: I definitely wanted to pursue a field that would allow a healthy work-life balance. Despite my busy work weeks, I feel very happy with my decision, in large part due to Medrina. I am able to be present for my family while also meeting my ambitious career goals.
Skills every physician in training should have for physiatry but won’t be tested for on the board exam: Physiatry has always been a field in which managing a team is very important. That is not something that can be tested on a multiple-choice exam.
One question physicians in training should ask themselves before pursuing physiatry: Can I work well with others—no matter their credentials—and value input from all of them with appropriate weight?
Additional advice I would give students who are considering physiatry: It’s very important to round with other physiatrists, but you should keep in mind that each setting can be quite different from the others. So you may need to round with multiple physiatrists to gain a better understanding of our field.
