Ep 065 – Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation with Dr. Miguel Escalón

Feb 9, 2018

Dr. Miguel Escalón, Program Director of PM&R at Mount Sinai and critical care rehab specialist, talks about rehabilitation for spinal cord and brain injury, spasticity management, and rehab technology. He outlines inpatient versus outpatient roles. He discusses training, career choices, international challenges, and innovations like exoskeletons and 3D printing.

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INSIGHT

PM&R Is A Quality Of Life Specialty

PM&R is best framed as a quality of life specialty rather than an organ-based field.
Miguel Escalón emphasizes using medical knowledge and rehab tools to improve function, pain, social and vocational outcomes across many diagnoses.

ADVICE

Plan Your Schedule By Setting

Expect different day structures: outpatient general clinics focus on MSK (back, hip, knee, shoulder) while inpatient academic physiatrists round on complex neuro cases.
Escalón describes morning rounds of 5–20 patients on rehab units and afternoons seeing musculoskeletal clinic patients.

ADVICE

Choose Inpatient If You Like Complex Medical Care

Do inpatient PM&R if you want intensive medical care plus rehab; be ready for long, unpredictable days and managing complex medical issues.
Escalón manages ventilators, trachs, diaphragmatic pacers and rounds like an internal medicine team on neuro rehabs.

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Show notes for this episode can be found here.

Dr. Miguel Escalón

Dr. Escalón (@dr_escalon) is the Program Director of the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residency at Mount Sinai Ichan School of Medicine.

Dr. Escalón completed his undergraduate degree at The University of Chicago in 2005; completed his medical degree and a masters of public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2009; completed his residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine in 2013; and finally a fellowship in Spinal Cord Injury Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2014.

In addition to Program Director, Dr. Escalón serves as the Director of Critical Care Rehabilitation. In this position, Dr. Escalón works closely with physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and recreational therapists, as well as neuropsychologists, and other medical and surgical specialists in order to provide comprehensive care in the rehabilitation and mobilization of critically ill patients, especially those patients in the ICU.

Outside of the clinic, Dr. Escalón is involved with research into brain and spinal cord injury especially as it relates to pain, spasticity and the role of technology in recovery. In particular, he is involved in the use of robotic exoskeletons to facilitate walking after such injuries.

Please enjoy with Dr. Miguel Escalón!