Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians
Diagnose and treat disorders requiring physiotherapy to provide physical, mental, and occupational rehabilitation.
$265,930 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
of the working time. Estimate.
- 42%
- 7%
- 51%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 5%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 42%. Today's estimate: 42%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 15 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop comprehensive plans for immediate and long-term rehabilitation, including therapeutic exercise, speech and occupational therapy, counseling, cognitive retraining, patient, family or caregiver education, or community reintegration.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 14% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Perform electrodiagnosis, including electromyography, nerve conduction studies, or somatosensory evoked potentials of neuromuscular disorders or damage.Done daily by most who do it. | 13% | 1.7 h50 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine patients to assess mobility, strength, communication, or cognition.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 13% | 29 min17 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Provide inpatient or outpatient medical management of neuromuscular disorders, musculoskeletal trauma, acute and chronic pain, deformity or amputation, cardiac or pulmonary disease, or other disabling conditions.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 33 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Document examination results, treatment plans, and patients' outcomes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Conduct physical tests, such as functional capacity evaluations, to determine injured workers' capabilities to perform the physical demands of their jobs.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 8% | 2.1 h1.1 h to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Diagnose or treat performance-related conditions, such as sports injuries or repetitive-motion injuries.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 8% | 33 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Coordinate physical medicine and rehabilitation services with other medical activities.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Monitor effectiveness of pain management interventions, such as medication or spinal injections.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Consult or coordinate with other rehabilitative professionals, including physical and occupational therapists, rehabilitation nurses, speech pathologists, neuropsychologists, behavioral psychologists, social workers, or medical technicians.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Assess characteristics of patients' pain, such as intensity, location, or duration, using standardized clinical measures.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Instruct interns and residents in the diagnosis and treatment of temporary or permanent physically disabling conditions.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.