From June 9-11, 2025, Mexico City was home to the first Rehabilitation Medicine seminar of OMI MEX. Led by faculty from OMI’s longstanding partner, Weill Cornell Medicine, the seminar gathered an impressive 43 fellows from 5 different countries in Latin America.
According to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R), also called Physiatry, “evaluates and treats patients with disorders or disabilities in the muscles, bones, and nervous system, including neck or back pain, sports and work injuries, stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, spasticity, and any other disability or disorder that affects function”. With the ultimate goal of improving the quality of life in patients, rehabilitation medicine has a holistic approach, and knowledge sharing among professionals from different specialties, backgrounds and countries, is extremely important for achieving this goal.
As per one study published by the National Library of Medicine (NIH) in 2019, rehabilitation medicine has significantly expanded its importance in Latin America over the past 6 decades, with many graduate and postgraduate educational programs being developed, translating into better outcomes for patients suffering with debilitating conditions. Equally important is to invest on providing state-of-the-art knowledge, so that an egalitarian access to the best care for all patients is provided regardless of nationality. This is what the OMI is aiming for.
Leading the seminar, we welcomed Dr. Joel Stein, physiatrist-in-chief, and Dr, Jaspal R. Singh, vice chair of rehabilitation medicine, from Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Stein underscored the course focus mentioning “[the seminar] covered a range of rehabilitation medicine topics: From pediatric to geriatric populations, to encompassing topics in neurologic rehabilitation, spine and musculoskeletal care, women’s health and pelvic pain, cerebral palsy, and more”.
As faculty from Weill Cornell, we were also joined by Dr. Jaclyn H. Bonder, associate professor and medical director of women’s health rehabilitation, and Dr. Dara Jones, assistant professor of clinical rehabilitation medicine. From Mexico, we welcomed OMI alumna Dr. Mayra Carmina Moreno Lozano from the National Institute of Rehabilitation (Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación).
Dr. Veliz’ statement translates the importance of international exchange experiences in Latin America not only in rehabilitation, but in several areas of medicine. At the OMI, we work tirelessly to improve the chances of a more egalitarian access to state-of-the-art medical care. With the help of our leading academic partners, we can continue working towards this goal – one seminar at a time.
