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Active AAPM&R Member Communities

Members & Publications

Are You a Member Community Chair? Find Your Resources Here.

 

Residents—looking for the Physiatrist in Training Council (PHiT)? Explore your community here.

How to Join

AAPM&R Member Communities are open to members of the Academy. To join one or more communities, simply update the 'Networking and Communications' section of your AAPM&R Member Profile.

Join a Member Community

Member Communities were each asked to provide information about the purpose of the community. Feel free to reach out to the contact(s) listed for additional information!

Adaptive Athletes and Sports
A community of members interested in adaptive/Para sports and supporting adaptive/Para athletes.

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Contact: Melissa Tinney, MD, FAAPMR

Goal:

  • Networking and sharing of knowledge and evidence-based practice

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African American Physiatrists
A community for African American physiatrists to gather to promote inclusion, education and support.

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Contact: D'Wan Carpenter, DO, MS, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • Promote inclusion of physicians of the black diaspora in the Academy membership and leadership
  • Develop a forum for mentorship, support and promotion of physicians of the black diaspora within the Academy
  • Develop and promote diversity within the Academy
  • Develop and promote resources, seminars and presentations at the Academy featuring members of our community
  • Develop and promote resources, seminars and presentations at the Academy of topics relevant to the community with impact on the larger Academy
  • Promote health equity and eliminate desperate clinical treatment outcomes in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 
  • Invite and support guest speakers to educate the Academy membership of things important to our community

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Alternative Pain Medicine
A community for physiatrists interested in alternative medicine.

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Contact: Danielle Zelnik, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

Share resources and network to change the culture of pain medicine.

  • Explore and review scientific evidence for emerging or under emphasized approaches to pain management
  • Expand the voice and presence of AAPM&R member practitioners who practice a holistic and complimentary approach to pain management
  • Connect AAPM&R practitioners to each other, to complimentary & alternative medicine practitioners, and to Integrative Medicine primary care provider as collective champions of non-opioid approaches to pain management.
  • Bring innovative and novel programming to the annual assembly on evidence-based non-medication approaches to pain management utilizing lifestyle modification, behavioral psychology, mind-body medicine, modalities/medical devices, and judicious use of botanical or dietary supplements

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Amputee/Limb Loss Restoration Rehabilitation
This is a group of physiatrists who have a particular interest in the rehabilitation of people with limb loss.

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Contact: Marlis Gonzalez-Fernandez, MD, PhD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • Develop and promote resources and presentations at the Academy Annual Assembly, featuring members of our community.
  • Provide networking opportunities for physiatrists with an interest in this area.

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Brain Injury Medicine Current Fellows and Future Candidates 
A community for brain injury medicine fellowship directors and candidates to gather and interact. 

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Contact: Kirk Lercher, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • Networking opportunities for candidates
  • Sharing of ideas of how to enhance brain injury medicine fellowships
  • Updating members on emerging changes at the ACGME

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Business of Healthcare Physiatrists
The landscape of medicine has changed dramatically over the past decade, such that a financial understanding by physicians of healthcare choices and planning is crucial for ongoing success and viability. The Business of Healthcare Physiatrists Community will focus on the financial and business management issues that impact private and group practices, employed physicians, hospitals, and healthcare systems where physiatrists are involved. This Business of Healthcare Physiatrists Community looks to be an educational and knowledge resource for like-minded members. Initially, members with MBA or EMBA degrees in this community will be providing their input based on education and real-life experiences. We also look forward to inviting input from physiatrists with other healthcare business degrees, such as MHA (Masters in Healthcare Administration) and MMM (Masters in Medical Management).

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Contact: Stuart Glassman, MD, MBA

Goals:

  • To facilitate discussion about financial and business management and administrative decisions.
  • To improve the financial and business understanding of physiatrists.
  • To enable community members to apply these learnings to their individual practice and/or hospital situations.

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Cancer Rehabilitation Medicine
A community that can further cancer rehabilitation medicine through education, research and networking.

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Contact: Ekta Gupta, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • Education: identifying domains and integrating cancer rehabilitation education in residency as well as fellowship
  • Research: Establishing a network of sites that can collaborate on clinical trials and other research is essential to propelling the field forward
  • Website: increasing the web presence of cancer rehabilitation for patients and physiatrists with information on cancer rehabilitation, research and education. Will also allow physiatrists to network with cancer physiatrists and stay updated.
  • Partnership with oncology organizations: establishing roles and increasing physiatric membership in national oncology organizations such as NCCN, ASCO, ACSM, and increasing committee membership (ACS).
  • Mentorship: establishing a mentorship network for early-career (and resident/fellow) cancer rehabilitation physicians helps shape the field. This involves identifying willing and qualified mentors and creating a sustainable structure by which mentors and mentees can be matched together.

Additional content from this community:

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Central Nervous System
A community for physiatrists who are interested in or specialize in injuries to the central nervous system, including traumatic and non-traumatic onset, and associated sequelae.

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Contact: David Ripley, MD, MS, FAAPMR

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Chicago Physiatrists
This is a hub for physiatrists in the Chicagoland area to connect and network.

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Contact: Max Fitzgerald, MD, FAAPMR  

Goals:

  • Develop a forum for mentorship and support of Chicagoland physicians.
  • Develop and promote resources, seminars, and presentations at the Academy featuring members of our community.
  • Provide networking opportunities for in-training physiatrists.
  • Engage members in advocacy regarding topics of relevance to patients in Illinois.

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Early-Career Physiatrists
A community for early-career physiatrists to gather and interact while promoting networking, education, and support.

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Contact: Colleen Sullivan, MD, FAAPMR  

Goals:

  • Develop a forum for mentorship and support of early-career physiatrists.
  • Develop and promote resources, seminars, and presentations locally and nationally (at the Annual Assembly) with members of our community.
  • Promote networking between physiatrists in training as well as potential mentors.
  • Help guide early-career physiatrists in choosing careers based on their interests, provide support and sponsorship.
  • Cultivate the next generation of leaders to provide training and direction for the graduating residents/fellows.

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Exercise as Medicine
To gather a group of physiatrists interested in promoting exercise as a form of medicine to enhance patient management.

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Contact: Jonathan H. Whiteson, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • To collate, review and disseminate evidence for the benefit of aerobic exercise as a modality in the management of patients undergoing rehabilitation for physical and / or cognitive functional limitations across the spectrum of diagnoses and organ system dysfunction.
  • To stimulate research to optimize a diagnosis-specific exercise prescription.
  • To implement practice changes that incorporates aerobic exercise in the continuum of rehabilitative care, from the acute care setting through outpatient and into the community.
  • To establish aerobic exercise as a significant tool in primary and secondary disease prevention.

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Geriatric Rehabilitation
A community for physiatrists and other health care providers interested in all aspects of geriatric rehabilitation.

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Contact: Kanakadurg Poduri, MD, FAAPMR  

Goals:

  • To support education and research for older adult patients.
  • To share how physiatrists can advocate for the rehabilitative care of older adults within their local communities.
  • To collaborate with members with similar interests.

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Inpatient Consultants
This community will provide a forum to discuss aspects and challenges related to inpatient consultations. Together, we can review what is being done nationally in order to provide ways to compare and improve our respective institutions. 

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Contact: Adriana Valbuena Valecillos, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • To improve patient care
  • To bring appropriate candidates to inpatient rehabilitation
  • To educate acute services on PM&R's role in acute care, decrease readmission to the acute hospital, and create accepted guidelines for admission to inpatient rehabilitation

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Inpatient Rehabilitation
A community for physiatrists who practice in various settings, including specialists and generalists, to discuss the challenges of inpatient rehabilitation.

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Contact: Lauren Shapiro, MD, FAAPMR 

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Intellectual Disability
A community of members interested in clinical care of and advocacy for patients with intellectual disability.

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Contact: Priya Chandan, MD, MPH, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • To support physiatrists that provide clinical care for this patient population by providing a forum to discuss common interests
  • To increase the awareness of physiatrists of the health disparities experienced by this patient population 
  • To engage members in advocacy regarding topics of relevance to patients with intellectual disability

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International Rehabilitation and Global Health

The International Rehabilitation and Global Health Member Community aims to create a forum for physiatrists involved and/or interested in international rehabilitation and global health issues to exchange ideas and experiences.

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Contact: Lauren Shapiro, MD, FAAPMR

Goal:

  • The goal of the member community is to share ideas and experiences among those hoping to assist those with disabilities worldwide.

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Interventional Pain
A community for physiatrists interested in interventional pain.

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Contact:  David Lee, MD, FAAPMR

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Introverted Leaders
A community for physiatrists with preferences for introversion (e.g., reflective, integrates ideas before speaking, values ideas, recharges with alone time/introspection, prefers to know a few people well, likes working in smaller groups) with a focus on valuing and growing the impact of introverted leadership in AAPM&R activities and more broadly in PM&R. 

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Contact: Rachel Brakke Holman, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • Provide a mechanism to explicitly value and share the strengths of AAPM&R members with introversion preferences and better utilize those strengths in our PM&R community through individual and group leadership development, validation, collegial mentoring/coaching and providing input to the organization.
  • Elevate the appreciation of what introverted leaders can contribute to a team and in leadership roles and also help the members in the community navigate and succeed when extroversion is needed.

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Kosher Physiatry
A community for Jewish physiatrists

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Contact: Edward Hurvitz, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • To provide information about traditional Jewish practices such as Kashrut and traditional religious services at AAPM&R meetings
  • To provide mentorship for observant Jewish physiatrists negotiating religious practice and training/early career.

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LatinX in Physiatry
A community of members with a Latin background to engage with on important physiatric issues.

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Contact: Glendaliz Bosques-Mendez, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • To connect with other members of similar backgrounds.
  • To share resources for identified patient populations at risk for health disparities.
  • To collaborate beyond institutions to disseminate knowledge.

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LGBTQIA+ in Physiatry 

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Contact: Jason Edwards, DO

Community Goals:

  • Build a community of members who identify as or serve as allies to the LGBTQIA+ physiatrist
  • Assist in coordinating education for physiatrists who serve the LGBTQIA+ patient population
  • Enhance Academy members' collective knowledge and awareness of the LGBTQIA+ community

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Medical Educators
A community geared towards PM&R faculty members, medical students, residents, fellows, and anyone else with an interest in teaching and learning.

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Contact: R. Sam Mayer, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • To enhance the training of future generations of physiatrists through the education of students, residents and fellows
  • This community is geared towards PM&R faculty members, medical students, residents, fellows and anyone else with an interest in teaching and learning.

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Muslim Physiatrists 
A community created to gather AAPM&R members to promote appropriate cultural and spiritual practices while caring for Muslim patients in the rehabilitation settings.

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Contact: Zainab J. Al-Lawati, MD

Goals:

  • Create a space to discuss Muslim practices with other AAPM&R members
  • To support Muslim trainees while navigating their future career in PM&R
  • To provide appropriate mentorship to PM&R fellows in various subspecialties and navigate service delivery to Muslim clients with physical challenges (disabilities).
     

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Neuromodulation
A forum for physiatrists with an interest or focus on neuromodulation medicine to discuss common interests and concerns.

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Contact: Mehul Desai, MD, MPH, FAAPMR 

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Neuromuscular Medicine and EDX
A forum for physiatrists with an interest or focus on neuromuscular and electrodiagnostic medicine to discuss common interests and concerns.

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Contact: Shawn P. Jorgensen, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • To support and promote the role of Physiatrists as high-quality practitioners of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic medicine.
  • To become the primary hub of academic dialogue specifically tailored to Physiatrists who practice Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine.
  • To create a space for Physiatrists with an interest in Neuromuscular Medicine and Electrodiagnostics to create educational material for the Annual Assembly, the PM&R journal, and other venues inside and outside of AAPM&R.
  • To advocate for the Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Physiatry community regarding non-academic concerns impacting their day-to-day practice, including coding, reimbursement, medicolegal, and other practice management issues.

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Overhead Athlete
A community for physiatrists interested in or specializing in overhead athletes to gather informally to discuss common threads.

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Contact: Robert Bowers, DO, PhD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • Introduce new concepts and topics related to the overhead athlete
  • Develop a forum for discussion in this niche population
  • Provide an environment for development of new and novel research ideas
  • Consider creating online resources for improved patient care related to the overhead athlete
  • Offer an area to engage members with similar interests
  • Bring in special guest speakers to educate membership when new research is published

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Pain Medicine
A community for physiatrists who are interested in and/or specialize in chronic painful conditions involving the central and peripheral nervous systems and musculoskeletal system, either traumatic, non-traumatic or acquired.

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Contact:  Erik Shaw, DO, FAAPMR

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Pediatric Rehabilitation
A community where physiatrists who are interested in and/or specialize in the care of childhood onset disabilities from birth through adulthood.

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Contact: Joline Brandenburg, MD, FAAPMR

Additional content from this community:

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Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Current Fellows/Combination Residents and Future Candidates 
A community for current Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine fellows or combination Pediatric/PM&R residents and those who are planning to apply to Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine fellowships in the future.

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Contact: Theodore Yipp, MD

Goals:

  • To allow Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine fellows/combination residents to network and share resources about Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine programs. 
  • To allow Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine fellowship candidates to network with each other.
  • To provide an opportunity for current fellows to mentor those applying to Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine fellowships.

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Pediatric Sports Medicine
A physiatry community for networking and sharing knowledge/resources regarding pediatric sports medicine.

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Contact: Mary Dubon, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • To network with other rehabilitation physicians and other clinicians who practice pediatric sports medicine care.
  • To share updated evidenced-based resources related to pediatric sports medicine.

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Performing Arts Medicine
To gather a group of members interested in performing arts medicine.

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Contact: Lauren Elson, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • To foster networking among AAPM&R members with clinical interest in treating performing artists
  • To share treatment strategies and facilitating research within the PM&R performing arts community
  • To facilitate programming at AAPM&R national conference relevant to the community interests
  • To raise issues of public health of relevance to the performing artist community
  • To enable participation in performing arts activities across the spectrum of age, ability, and function

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Physiatry in Skilled Nursing Facilities
A community for providers who are currently working or are interested in working in Skilled Nursing Facilities. Skilled Nursing Facilities typically take place inside of a Licensed Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF). PM&R providers in this setting usually focus on managing short-term pain, functional rehabilitation, and recovery for patients with physical and cognitive impairments or disabilities, adding a beneficial layer of clinical oversight and capabilities to SNFs specializing in rehabilitation. 

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Contact: Azlan Tariq, DO, FAAPMR

Goal:

  • To provide support and education to providers who are currently working or are interested in working in Skilled Nursing Facilities.

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Physiatry Life Care Planners
A community to foster communication among life care planning physiatrists and work toward elevating the discipline of life care planning. Working toward enhancing the involvement of physiatrists in the discipline of life care planning to encourage advancement through participation in the hopes of more research and contributions to the literature relevant in life care planning.

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Contact: Sasha M. Ringahl Iversen, DO, FAOCPMR

Goal:

  • To make the field of life care planning a standard discipline within physiatry - owning this relevant discipline, which involves the assessment of the population of injured/ill subjects typically evaluated, treated, and managed by physiatrists.

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Private Practice Physiatrists
A forum for physiatrists in private practice to exchange information regarding cultivating and maintaining a successful private practice in the changing health care environment.

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Contact: Annie Purcell, DO, FAAPMR

Goal:

  • To exchange information and provide encouragement and support.

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Regenerative Medicine
A community for physiatrists who are interested in regenerative medicine.

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Contact: Isaac P. Syrop, MD, FAAPMR 

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Research in Physiatry
The community aims to gather like-minded physiatrists interested in learning more about research. 

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Contact: Heather Vincent, PhD, MS

Goals:

  • To facilitate high-quality research to provide necessary evidence base for physiatric interventions.
  • To facilitate discussion and collaboration between current and potential investigators.
  • To investigate targeted research areas like health services research.

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Running Medicine
A community of physiatrists with interest in this area and facilitate the transfer and dissemination of knowledge regarding these patients.

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Contact: Kevin Vincent, MD, PhD, FAAPMR

Goal:

  • Bring together people interested in the evaluation and treatment of runners. Due to the repetitive nature of the activity as well as its popularity, knowledge of biomechanics, proper training, nutrition as well as the evaluation and treatment for runners takes special knowledge and training.

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South Asian Physiatrists
We are a group of physiatrists who identify with South Asian origin. We plan to focus on shared identities and experiences to create value, diversity, leadership, and educational opportunities to physiatrists of South Asian origin.

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PhyzForum discussion board coming soon!

Contact: Nandita Keole, MD

Goals:

  • Provide support, guidance, and mentorship for professional, education, and leadership development and activities.
  • Provide support to this community.
  • Provide national and global educational initiatives directed towards furthering the field of physiatry.

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Spine Medicine
A group of members interested in performing spine medicine.

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Contact: Aaron Yang, MD, FAAPMR 

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Sports Medicine
A group of members interested in performing sports medicine.

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Contact: Michael Fredericson, MD, FAAPMR

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Sports Medicine Current Fellows and Future Candidates
A community for current sports medicine fellows and those who are planning to apply to sports medicine fellowships to network and collaborate.

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Contact: Stephanie Tow, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • To allow PM&R sports medicine fellows to network and share resources about sports medicine fellowships.
  • To allow PM&R sports medicine fellowship candidates to network with each other. 
  • To provide an opportunity for current fellows to mentor those applying to sports medicine fellowships.

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Texas Physiatrists
Serving PM&R physicians in Texas, enabling them to efficiently communicate about regional topics, network, and seek local advice. 

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Contact: Jason Marchetti, MD, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • To increase communication between physiatrists in Texas.
  • To discuss regulatory issues that are affecting physiatrists practicing in the state of Texas.

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Women Physiatrists
A community that can identify and discuss challenges affecting women in physiatry.

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Contact: Mary Russell, DO, MS, FAAPMR

Goals:

  • Support other women Physiatrists.
  • Educate on issues important to women in medicine.
  • Educate on gender equity.
  • Promote women in Physiatry!

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Wound Medicine
A community of physiatrists to share expertise on wound care.

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PhyzForum discussion board coming soon!

Contact: Mark Griffith, MD, FAAPMR

Goal:

  • Bring together PMR professionals who have expertise and/or interest in wound care to further education, training, research and support in an important and growing population of patients effected by complex chronic wounds.

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