PM&R specialists practice in a variety of clinical settings, including Inpatient Department (IPD), Outpatient Department (OPD), and Community Based Rehabilitation. They serve in the broad range of healthcare spanning all clinical specialties in the arena of PM&R.

Inpatient – It includes spinal cord injury, brain injury (traumatic and non-traumatic), stroke, nerve injuries, burns, amputation, arthritis, neurogenic bowel/bladder, pressure injury management, spasticity management, etc. They serve all ages from paediatric to geriatric in all genders.

Outpatient – The bulk of cases include painful conditions of muscles bones and joints, including occupational and sports injuries and overuse syndromes, However, lifetime management of all the conditions as mentioned in the inpatient category is dealt by PM&R. A major task is Disability Certification along the Guidelines issued by the Government from time to time.

Community Based Rehabilitation – As Disability Rehabilitation has to ensure environmental accessibility, PM&R specialists work in Community base in physical or virtual modes. The disability camps providing assistive devices, prostheses, orthoses, counselling etc. remain the mainstay. However, capacity building of the community to ensure mainstreaming of people with disabilities remains the goal.

Based on available resources, the PM&R specialist works in Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary modes to guide and supervise comprehensive Rehabilitation of the patient in all the areas viz. physical, psychological, social, educational, vocational, and recreational. Various Allied Healthcare workers contributing to the rehabilitation under the guidance of PM&R specialist include – Nurses, Pharmacists, Dieticians, Rehabilitation Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Psychologists, Prosthetists and Orthotists etc.

At the same time, PM&R specialist liaises with family physicians, specialists and super specialists to ensure best fitting quality of life for the patient with respect to his/her disability and environmental barriers.