Dr. Benjamin Klyachman: Rusk Medical Education: Empowering our Learners to Transform Patient Care.

RUSK Insights on Rehabilitation Medicine

Originally from Brooklyn, Dr. Klyachman is the son of two Russian speaking immigrants and among the first in his family to pursue a career in medicine. He attended the University at Buffalo for his undergraduate education and continued his medical education at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harlem. After graduating, he went to Florida to complete an internship and currently is in the fourth year of a rehabilitation residency at NYU Rusk. He recently matched into a fellowship at NYU where he plans to continue specialty training that starts in July 2023.

The following items were discussed in this one-part interview: a typical day in the life of a medical resident at Rusk; involvement in research at Rusk; area of specialization upon completion of the residency; types of components that should be included for residents in a skilled nursing facility level rehabilitation program, such as prediction tools for identifying and stratifying patients being discharged to a skilled nursing facility; social media developed for residents at Rusk; ways in which social media have played a constructive role in contributing to the mental and physical wellbeing of these clinicians; how social media can serve as a key adjunct to traditional residency learning in classrooms and on the wards; use of social media from the perspective of interacting with residency peers, instructors, and patients; role for physiatrists to play in enhancing social media skill development in patients; and empowering patients by providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills to promote constructive behavior change. Many patients have as a rehabilitation goal a successful reintegration into the society by returning to previous employment and renewing their social networks. Self-management programs may contribute to realizing the attainment of this goal. What role do you see being played by physiatrists, if any, in empowering patients by providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills to promote constructive behavior changes through self-management.