Physiatrists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Doctors who specialize in restoring function and mobility to patients through physical therapy, exercise, and other non-surgical treatments
2. Physicians trained to diagnose and treat injuries and disabilities by rehabilitative methods rather than surgery or drugs
3. Medical professionals focused on physical medicine, helping people recover movement and independence after illness or injury

Etymology: Physiatrists are doctors who treat injury and disability through exercise, therapy and rehabilitation rather than surgery or drugs alone. The name is built from Greek roots: "physis" (nature, or the body's natural processes) and "iatros" (physician), the same "iatros" that appears in "pediatrician" and "psychiatrist." The "-ist" ending marks a practitioner, and it reaches English through Old French and Latin from the Greek "-istes," which turned the names of practices into the names of the people who carry them out. The plural form "physiatrists" is simply the standard English way of pluralising a noun ending in "-ist," adding "s." Its base, "physiatrist," is formed from "physiatrics," the name of the medical specialty, plus that same agent ending, so the chain runs from the Greek roots to the specialty and then to the people who practise it.

Synonyms: rehabilitation physician