Kelvin Melgar1

Timeline Assignment

Physical Therapy has been apart of medicine for centuries even as early as 3,000 B.C. in
China where they used rubbing as form of massage as a therapeutic for bruises and aches.
Modern Physical Therapy came to the U.S. after war was declared on Germany in 1917.
Major General Milliam C. Gorgas and U.S. Surgeon General of the U.S. Army assigned a
group of physicians to study European rehab programs since the U.S. had no formal
rehabilitation program for its troops.
Considered to be the first Physical Therapist in the United States, Mary McMillian
practiced physical therapy in England for years before it was every really recognized. She
wrote a manuscript for her book called Massage and Therapeutic Exercise which is the
first book to be published in the U.S. about physical therapy. She practiced clinical care
as well as offered Harvard graduate programs for physical therapy.
Physical Therapy was greatly recognized after the First World War for being such a great
tool to have so the U.S. Army continued its program, allowing clinicians the opportunity
to work and improve their techniques around the 1920s.
The profession as a whole has gone over numerous changes throughout the years and has
established its professional organization, the development and proliferation of therapy
programs and the developer of the first therapy program after 1922.
The requirement for the Physical Therapist occupation is a masters degree or a doctoral
degree.
After graduating you will need to then pass the state-administered national exam and then
after passing the test you will need to meet any additional requirements your state
licensing board may have before you may practice.