Government Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine

The Government Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (GIRM) is one of the oldest rehabilitation centers in India.[1] Founded in 1926, the Government Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine is the second such institute in India,[2] after King Edward Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. It is an institute of the Madras Medical College and located in Ashok Nagar in Chennai. It includes a hospital, headed by a director who is also Chief of Post-Graduate Medical Courses of the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. GIRM conducts three-year MD (PMR) and two-year diploma courses in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (Physiatry, otherwise called PMR) for medical (post-MBBS) graduates. The institute hosts allied with Health Science courses and has a College of Physiotherapy, a School of Orthotics and Prosthetics, and an Artificial Limb Center. GIRM was formerly called the Regional Rehabilitation and Training Center under the Ministry of Health, India.[3]

History

The School of Physiotherapy was started by Professor Vittal Rao, who was trained in the United Kingdom. It began as a one-year training programme, where the nurses were recruited to learn physical therapy. Later, it was upgraded to a two-and-a-half-year diploma programme.

In 1981, it was further upgraded to a three-and-a-half-year degree programme. It ultimately attained its current four-and-a-half year curriculum in 1998. The college was affiliated to the University of Madras until the early 1990s and later to The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, to which it remains in the present. Every year, the college admits 25 students who graduate as Bachelors of Physiotherapy. The students are admitted through open-window counseling by the Selection Committee, Directorate of Medical Education. The College of Physiotherapy has a student association, which has been active since 1990. The association has organized several conferences; CMEs. Physiofest is the college's biggest event.[4]

The student association organized five Physiofests between 1993 and 2006. On 14 December 2013, the college established its alumni association and celebrated it as Alumni Foundation Day by gathering more than 250 former students. The event was organized by the alumni working committee and student alumni coordinators.

The active Rotaract Club for the Government College of Physiotherapy (GCP) is part of RI Dist 3230. The Rotaract club of GCP has organized several different projects, such as community service, club service, international service, pulse-polio immunization, and vocational service. Karuna Vidya is one of the club's ongoing projects organized in association with the parent club, where Rotaractors and volunteers help visually challenged individuals in their academics. Some of the biggest events of the club include Dreamz Unlimited I, Dreamz Unlimited II, and Village. Dreamz Unlimited I was a one-day sports event designed for the specially challenged in Chennai, whereas Dreamz Unlimited II was a mass 3-dose Hepatitis-B Immunization programme for about one thousand orphans in Chennai. The "Village" project had the club adopt a village near Singaperumal Koil and assist with its development.

The Rotaract Club of GCP successfully launched the project Thalamurai, completing 56 projects in eight hours on 18 March 2012. It was held within the premises of the Government College of Physiotherapy. It received tremendous positive responses from the public and won the award for "Best Outstanding Community Service from RI Dist 3230 for 2011-2012.

Artificial Limb Center

The Artificial Limb Center (ALC) is a pioneer center in Asia funded by the World Bank in 1947. It has assisted soldiers of the Indian Army and hosted trainee doctors visiting from the United Kingdom. The center initially made prosthetics for soldiers, but later expanded its facilities and began to provide for civilians as well. ALC has developed the foot piece in the LE prosthesis called the "Madras Foot."

Rehabilitation hospital

Patients here are referred from peripheral areas of Tamil Nadu for rehabilitation. They are assessed by the team of physiotherapists who prescribe individual rehab programs suitable for various disabilities. They are offered multiple treatments, including Physical Therapy, occupational therapy, psychological counseling, vocational counseling, training, orthotics, and prosthetics. The patient's improvement is periodically monitored. Most of these services are provided at subsidized rates to people in need and free of charge for most of them.

Walking School

The Walking School is a notable facility of GIRM. The walking training provided here is a primitive approach used in evaluation and rehabilitation, while the method of prosthetic rehabilitation here is similar to the Roehampton approach.

There are many technological advancements, such as GAIT labs using optoelectronic camera systems, CADCAM devices, and more. The school witnesses all levels of amputation from pediatric to geriatric, therefore any student graduating from GIRM has the opportunity to master prosthetic rehabilitation.

References
  1. "detail_contact | Tamil Nadu Government Portal". www.tn.gov.in. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  2. https://www.kem.edu/about/about-kem-hospital/
  3. Principles of Manual Therapy. Deepak Sebastian.
  4. Integrated Evaluation of Disability. Ramar Sabapathi Vinayagam.

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