The origins of the department can be found in the lecture on Physical therapy, which was delivered to the students in the 2nd semester of their 6th year of medical school for one hour every week by assistant professor Ahn Yong-pal in 1960. Our clinical activity has its origins in the Physiatry Department where patient care first started in the newly-built St. Marys Hospital in Myeongdeong in December 1961. We started to get our function structured as an independent department in the late 1970s. The present department was established on March 1, 1980, and its role of conducting student education, clinical consultation, and research has been regularized since then. Now, our specialists and resident fellows are conducting patient care in all of the affiliated hospitals.