Greetings from the Chair

Dubin Photo

Dear Visitors and Prospective Residents:

On behalf of the 50+ faculty and staff of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) at the University of Florida (UF), I would like to thank you for your interest in becoming part of our rapidly expanding PMR family and the Gator Nation. Our community is a welcoming place for people of all ages and backgrounds, with attractions for everyone.

Our Residency program is committed to your education and training. Our mission is to train the next generation of thought leaders in clinical care and research. We currently have 12 residents in our 3-year, advanced PMR training program. Our most recent graduates have matched at prestigious programs for fellowship training in interventional spine/pain and sports medicine. Our current cohort of residents have expressed interest in pursuing fellowships across many disciplines: interventional spine/pain medicine, sports medicine, stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) medicine, neuromuscular medicine, and pediatric rehabilitation.

As a UF PMR resident you will receive personalized attention during your clinical training. Our inpatient rehabilitation hospital is a 60-bed, CARF accredited facility that provides comprehensive rehabilitation services to Shands hospital, a tertiary care, level one trauma, referral center serving the North Central Florida and South Georgia region.  Our team philosophy and approach include continuing expansion of strong relationships with multiple departments, such as Orthopedic surgery, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Rheumatology, Pulmonary medicine, Pain medicine, and Transplant surgery, to optimize patient care and achieve resident educational goals.

We are very proud of our training program which features comprehensive experiences in all aspects of PMR, from pediatric to adult patients recovering from and living with amputations, stroke, TBI, spinal cord injury, and neuromuscular disorders.  Residents receive extensive training in electrodiagnostic medicine, interventional spine, ultrasound-guided joint injections, and botulinum toxin procedures for spasticity management. 

As of 2023, we were honored to serve as UF’s direct medical liaison for the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC). This has afforded our nationally and internationally renowned sports medicine faculty and trainee’s opportunities to serve as TEAM USA physicians and participate in coverage at competitive events around the world.  This has further enhanced the multiple musculoskeletal sports medicine clinics and resident training experiences within the Gator Nation.

Your training in research and related principles will be under the direction of talented faculty with expertise in diverse areas, including the following fields: 1) Pain and the physiologic as well as psychological impact of pain on individuals; 2) Exercise and human performance, with a focus on optimizing patient’s functional status using prescription-based exercise.  Our state-of-the-art performance and gait analysis lab offer residents the opportunity to be involved in research that explores the impacts of physiologic perturbation on functionality; and 3) Assorted Neuromuscular projects within PMR and in collaboration with Neurology’s neuromuscular division.  Our residents have been extremely prolific in research, producing numerous manuscripts in reputable journals and presentations at state, national, and international conferences.

My desired goal as Interim Chair is to foster a culture of inclusion, inquiry, and curiosity that empowers our faculty and trainees to strive for continuous improvement across the domains of education, patient care, and research, with service that positively ripples throughout our community and beyond.

I appreciate you taking the time to explore our program and look forward to welcoming you to our PMR family and to the Gator Nation.

Sincerely,

Andrew H Dubin, MD, MS. FAAPMR, ABPMR, ABEM

Interim Chair and Professor Department of PMR