“I can’t remember when I didn’t want to be a doctor. Even as an adolescent, when I scrubbed floors and ran errands at the local hospital in order to smell ether and go on rounds with the country doctor, surgery did not spell the glamour in medicine to me. It was people-sick people-their suffering, their problems, and their victories that challenged.”
Dr. Howard Rusk
Dr. Howard Rusk was one of the country’s most innovate physicians who pioneered the practice of rehabilitative medicine. His philosophy of helping all people, regardless of ability or disability, “live their life to the fullest” was somewhat controversial in the early years of his medical practice. Although he treated all types of patients, it was treating people who were disabled in some manner that were his life’s calling. The core philosophy he developed was that everyone deserves to have the best overall health possible, whether it be physical, mental or emotional.
Howard Rusk was born on April 9, 1901 and grew up in the small town of Brookfield in north central Missouri. He graduated from Brookfield High School where he expressed an interest in going into the medical field. Rusk stayed close to home for college to continue his education. He made the 100-mile trip to Columbia to enroll at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Rusk faced difficult circumstances while working toward his undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri. Tough times hit when His family was devastated after the economic downturn that followed World War I. So he had to work two jobs in order to pay for school. But one rather notable thing happened during his time at Mizzou. He was a member of a fraternity that raised money to pay for a friend who needed an artificial leg. That was a defining moment because he saw the impact that rehabilitative medicine can be to a patient.
After earning his degree in 1923, Rusk was accepted into the prestigious University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he earned his medical degree in 1925.
After graduation from medical school, he came back to Missouri. He trained in internal medicine and opened a private practice while teaching at Washington University School of Medicine. World War II put his “private” medical career on hold while he served in the Army Air Forces Medical Corps at Jefferson Barracks. Once again, his job was treating patients who were badly injured or disabled. It was during this time that he began to develop a program to get military members back into action, or back to their normal lives.
Following the war, he continued to pioneer his new passion in rehabilitation medicine. But the practice was often discouraged by others in the medical community. Many physicians thought it was a waste of time and resources to devote so much effort into people who would never fully regain their health. But Dr. Rusk persevered, driven by the belief that all people deserve the best care possible. Although he was discouraged by other scientists, wealthy and powerful people were taking notice of his philosophy.
The publisher of The New York Times, Arthur Sulzberger, took notice and asked Rusk to write a medical advice column for the paper. The added exposure got the attention of others who help fund further research in disabilities. He was then asked to develop a program at New York University to treat disabled patients and research new ways to care for them. He later founded the World Rehabilitation Fund in 1955 to help people worldwide get the care they deserved. His fame paid off in several ways, both personal and professional. He became an advisor to several presidents and was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rusk died in 1989 as one of the most respected physicians in American history. His philosophies not only changed the care that the disabled receive, but also initiated an entire new specialty of care. Following his death in New York, the world-renowned physician was buried in his hometown of Brookfield.
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