Outline of medical rehabilitation history in Poland and worldwide.

The study is an outline of the historical development of rehabilitation as a new medical discipline in Poland and worldwide. Rehabilitation has developed dynamically in the interwar period. In the US, it was pioneered by Howard Rusk, while in Poland, rehabilitation was introduced by Wiktor Dega. Medical rehabilitation is an interdisciplinary approach and is an integral and irremovable element of treatment at all treatment stages. Of note is the contribution of Wiktor Dega, who has developed and presented the Polish concept of rehabilitation, considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as worth of being followed. Wiktor Dega believed that rehabilitation should be started possibly early--as soon as in the active disease stage and should provide and maintain good functional results after surgical treatment. The article discusses the contribution of pioneer specialists in rehabilitation in two first rehabilitation centers in Poland, established after World War II in Poznań and Konstancin near Warsaw.