03/08/2026
On this International Women's Day 2026 Kreis Physical Therapy would like to celebrate the career and accomplishments of the woman often called "The Mother of Physical Therapy." Mary McMillan was the first recognized physical therapist in the United States and she later founded the organization which became today's APTA, the American Physical Therapy Association.
Inspired by the loss of family members in her early life to pursue a career easing the suffering of others with medical challenges, Mary worked with pediatric polio patients in the early 1900s, providing mobilization, massage and exercise therapy. With the advent of World War I, her skills really came into focus. Over 200,000 wounded soldiers returned from the war to the US, many requiring extensive medical rehabilitation. McMillan was the first physical therapy aide sworn into the US Army. She served the United States Medical Corps as Head Reconstruction Aide at Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, DC. While working at Walter Reed, she also taught and began work on a textbook, Massage and Therapeutic Exercise, which is still in print today.
She set a goal of forming a national organization to standardize the discipline she had been building and sought to provide professionally trained women therapists with the skills needed to practice in general hospitals and clinics. The American Women's Physical Therapeutics Association (AWPT) elected her its first president on March 24, 1921. In her later career, she worked in China and the Pacific, teaching and growing the discipline of physical therapy, She became a prisoner of war in the Philippines during World War II, where she continued to provide comfort and aid to other prisoners. McMillan spoke about this time of her career during a speech on the 25th anniversary of the American Physical Therapy Association.
This amazing woman was a tireless and compassionate advocate for the benefits of rehabilitative therapy. Her belief in the value of exercise and physical therapy is as relevant today as it was when she began this discipline. Today's PTs provide patients with the tools they need to regain strength and mobility, avoid future injuries and retain their health and well being.
Happy International Women's Day!
