Rehabilitation Medicine

Renji Hospital’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine was founded in 1953. With a rich heritage of more than 70 years, it integrates medical care, teaching, and research. It works closely with clinical departments, actively providing early bedside rehabilitation for critical and complex diseases in neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, critical care medicine, geriatrics, and other medical and surgical specialties, and seamlessly continues comprehensive rehabilitation after patients transfer to rehabilitation wards. The rehabilitation outpatient clinic uses an integrated model combining exercise training and physical therapy for common conditions such as neck, shoulder, lower-back, and leg pain. Annual visits exceed 36,000, placing it among Shanghai’s leading rehabilitation clinics, and patients consistently praise the treatment results. Former department directors have served as vice chairs of the Chinese Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, chairs of its Shanghai branch, vice presidents of the Shanghai Society of Rehabilitation Medicine, and in other professional roles. The current director, Chief Physician Chen Zhen, is a professor and doctoral supervisor, a leader of a key medical specialty in Shanghai, and a leading figure in Shanghai rehabilitation science and technology. He is vice chair of the Critical Care Rehabilitation Committee of the Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine, vice chair of the third Rehabilitation Medicine Committee of the China Association for the Promotion of International Medical and Healthcare Exchange, vice chair of the Consciousness Disorder Rehabilitation Committee and the Brain Function Detection and Regulation Committee of the Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine, and chair of Critical Care Rehabilitation of the Shanghai Society of Rehabilitation Medicine. He leads key R&D projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology, projects of the Ministry of Health, international cooperation projects, and teaching projects. The department edited General Rehabilitation Medicine, translated the first domestic Chinese translation of a critical-care rehabilitation work, Residual Problems and Rehabilitation Treatment after Intensive Care, and has edited, translated, contributed to, or co-translated more than 20 monographs. It has successfully hosted more than ten national continuing-education courses. The department cooperates with Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Sport, Tongji University, Shanghai Health Medical College, Shanghai Aurora College, Shanghai Sanda University, and other institutions offering rehabilitation therapy, jointly establishing clinical observation and internship bases. In 2023, our department was officially designated as the Organ and Critical Care Rehabilitation Research Center of the Shanghai Jiaotong Medical University Taibao Rehabilitation Research Institute. It currently provides comprehensive rehabilitation care for critical-care and organ rehabilitation, nervous-system diseases, geriatric diseases, post-breast-surgery rehabilitation, orthopedic perioperative care, sports injuries, and more, including physical, occupational, speech, and swallowing-disorder therapy. Patients come from across China and from other countries and regions around the world who seek us by reputation. The department has a comprehensive range of rehabilitation equipment. Its services include critical-care and organ rehabilitation, stroke and traumatic-brain-injury rehabilitation, perioperative breast-cancer and lymphedema rehabilitation, acute and chronic injury and pain rehabilitation, spinal-cord-injury rehabilitation, peripheral-nerve-injury rehabilitation, osteoporosis rehabilitation, cervical/lumbar disc disease rehabilitation, frozen-shoulder and rotator-cuff-injury rehabilitation, post-arthroplasty rehabilitation, post-fracture-surgery rehabilitation, and perioperative respiratory-function rehabilitation.