Why UAB Rehabilitation Services

UAB Medicine offers numerous professional growth opportunities through the Clinical Advancement Program, which is available to all disciplines. The program grows therapists into professional clinicians, who incorporate evidence-based practices and patient- and family-centered care to achieve positive patient outcomes. The program promotes the development of clinical excellence, clinical competence, and leadership skills among staff.

UAB Medicine encourages and rewards continuing education and offers many ways to expand your skills and knowledge, thanks to an active Clinical Advancement Program and ongoing activities such as grand rounds. Research opportunities exist across the continuum of rehabilitation care and in conjunction with the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the UAB School of Health Professions.

Collaboration is a central part of working at UAB Medicine, and that collaboration begins with a comprehensive orientation and training program for new staff members. Our therapists also rely on guidance from colleagues, support staff, and management, and they are encouraged to pursue continuing education opportunities. In addition to highly skilled, specialty trained colleagues in the rehabilitation field, patients have access to 600-plus specialists across more than 30 clinical areas. Depending on the diagnosis of each patient, therapists serve in key roles alongside physicians, psychologists, rehabilitation case managers and nurses, as well as specialized therapists in other fields. Because UAB Medicine is one of the best places to come for clinical training, there are endless opportunities for experienced therapists to work with students.

UAB Spain Rehabilitation Center offers a wide range of nationally recognized inpatient therapy programs designed to treat patients recovering from spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, stroke, amputations and other neurologic and musculoskeletal injuries. We are home to one of only 14 National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) spinal cord injury model systems and one of 16 traumatic brain injury model systems in the nation. Therapists work closely with patients and their families during early stages of recovery as they receive a combination of therapy services for at least 3 hours per day, 5 days a week. This is a highly collaborative setting that includes occupational, physical, speech, recreational, and music therapy. Therapists work in a team-based care model that utilizes the latest evidence-based interventions and technology.

At UAB Spain Rehabilitation Center, Outpatient Therapy Services provides physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Therapists here often collaborate with in-house physicians to deliver optimal outcomes with patients with various disorders, including acute and chronic neurological conditions, orthopaedic conditions, and acute trauma. Specialty clinics are focused on driving, aquatic therapy, burns, augmentative alternative communication, lymphedema, and more.

At UAB Hospital-Highlands, Outpatient Therapy Services provides physical and occupational therapy. Therapists work alongside in-house physicians and nurse practitioners to deliver optimal outcomes for a wide variety of patients, from young professionals and retirees to recreational runners and elite athletes. Our dedicated team of therapists specializes in acute orthopaedic injuries, sports medicine, orthopaedic post-operative rehabilitation, concussion management, and work injury management.

Acute care rehabilitation services are available for all UAB Hospital units. The goals of therapy at this level are early mobilization, early communication/swallowing, restored function, preventing further decline, and facilitating patient discharge to the next level in the continuum of care. Occupational, physical, speech, audiology, and music therapy services are available with physician referral. In general, patients of all ages are treated at the bedside.