Rehabilitation therapeutics has become a popular specialty in colleges and universities in China. At present

160 colleges and universities have set up rehabilitation therapeutics specialty

of which 73.75% are public colleges and 26.25% are private colleges (including independent colleges). The types of those colleges and universities are mainly concentrated on western medicine colleges (40.6%)

traditional Chinese medicine colleges (18.1%) and comprehensive colleges (31.3%)

with an imbalance in regional distribution between the east and west of China. Some problems are becoming prominent with the increase of the number of these colleges and universities

such as differences in discipline cultivation modes

compositions of colleges and universities

teaching quality

profession/industrial standards and distribution of rehabilitation education resources. In order to promote the healthy development of undergraduate education of rehabilitation therapeutics in colleges and universities in China

we should define the connotation and extension of rehabilitation therapeutics

establish the professional training mode of rehabilitation therapeutics with Chinese characteristics

classify the professional training objectives

strengthen the construction of teachers

formulate professional standards of rehabilitation therapeutics

and improve the uneven distribution of rehabilitation education resources.