A world to care for;: The autobiography of Howard A. Rusk, M.D

Millions of people around the world are physically disabled, whether from a birth defect, an accident, disease or other trauma. Almost everyone knows someone with such a problem, and for all it is a troubling, often tragic experience. This is the story of Dr. Howard Rusk’s campaign to alleviate the suffering of these people, to make rehabilitation an accepted and fundamental aspect of medicine. He outlines this crusade and describes with great insight and compassion his patients' struggles to overcome their handicaps. These graphic, profoundly moving life histories confirm his belief that people fighting to regain their self-sufficiency and dignity have a "depth of spirit you and I know little about." Dr. Rusk’s therapeutic philosophy was to treat the whole person, to solve not only the physical but also the emotional, social and psychological problems. The record of his success proved the soundness of his approach. Dr. Rusk conceived this philosophy during World War II while directing the Army Air Corps Convalescent and Rehabilitation Services. After the war he gave up an active private practice in Missouri and moved to New York, where he began his battle in "two drab, bare Bellevue wards." By the time of publication the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine was part of the huge NYU Medical Center complex and was serving patients from all over the world. The World Rehabilitation Fund, which Dr. Rusk helped to establish, had by then trained more than one thousand physicians and rehabilitation specialists from 85 countries. This is a compelling – and at times highly affecting – account of Dr. Rusk’s dramatic accomplishments over the short span of 30 years. It is also a tribute to the extraordinary achievements of the many thousands of disabled, who have overcome incredible physical disadvantages to become outstanding workers, citizens and members of their communities, proving time and again that it is not the body alone but the spirit that makes a person.