A professional who provides medically prescribed program of physical exercises and activities designed to prevent muscular deterioration resulting from long convalescence or inactivity due to chronic illness. Responsibilities include:

• Collaborates with other members of rehabilitation team in organizing patients' course of treatment.
• Establishes rapport with patients to motivate them, choosing exercises and activities in accordance with prescription.
• Utilizes any or combination of resistive, assistive, or free movement exercises, utilizing bars, or hydrogymnastics.
• Instructs patients in use, function, and care of prostheses and devices, such as braces, crutches, or canes and in use of manually controlled vehicles.
• Directs blind persons in foot travel.
• Prepares progress reports of patient's emotional reactions to and progress in training by observing patient during exercises to provide clinical data for diagnosis and prognosis by rehabilitation team.
• Directs patients in techniques of personal hygiene to compensate for permanent disabilities.