The Clinic for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation marked 70 years of military physiatry in the MMA’s hall of the Scientific-Teaching Council. The celebration of the great anniversary was attended by the Head of the Military Healthcare Department Colonel Ugljesa Jovicic, Deputy Head of the Military Medical Academy, Colonel Dr. Dragan Dincic, employees of the Military Medical Academy and numerous guests.

Congratulating the Day to all employees at the Clinic, Colonel Dincic reminded that the MMA was one of the few institutions in the country that could be proud of 70 years of tradition in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation. He pointed out that a military doctor was among the first in Serbian medicine that passed a specialist examination in physical medicine as had been countless times in history.

Head of the Clinic, Colonel Prof. Dr Aleksandar Djurovic, Assistant Professor Dr. Zorica Brdareski and Assistant Professor Dr. Aleksandra Vukomanovic presented the history of military physiatry development, current capacities and treatment options, as well as the educational and scientific-research potential of the Clinic.

According to them, the beginnings of physical therapy in the Military dated back to the 1930s, when Department of X-ray and Physical Therapy was formed within the Main Military Hospital. However, the foundations of this profession in the Military were laid, with the appointment of Colonel Prof. Ivan Lesic, the first physician who passed the specialist exam in the newly formed branch of medicine - physical medicine, for the Head of the Department of Physical Therapy and Therapeutic Gymnasium in 1948.

Today's Clinic for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, which roots date back to the 1930s, has three departments - a hospital, an outpatient clinic for physiotherapy and a Department for interclinical rehabilitation, where between 250 and 350 patients are daily treated. In addition to treatment, doctors, physiotherapists and nurses of the Clinic actively participate in the education of young people and scientific and publishing activities.