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Comment: It has a completely non-standard use of raw urls posted in the article body which are illegal. Remove them. scope_creepTalk 07:47, 25 January 2026 (UTC)
Herman Flax |
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Herman Jacob Flax (March 31, 1917 – April 26, 2012) was an American physiatrist, educator, and international leader in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). He practiced for more than five decades in Puerto Rico and the United States, served as president of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) and the International Rehabilitation Medicine Association (IRMA), and was recognized as a pioneer of the specialty.[1] [1](https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/exhibits/show/flaxcollectionofphysiatry/about-herman-j--flax/medical-career)
Early life and education
editFlax was born in Richmond, Virginia, to Bernard Nathan Flax and Jennie Hannah Jaffe. He earned a B.S. from the University of Richmond in 1936 and an M.D. from the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) in 1940; he later received an M.Med.Sci. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1952.[1] [1](https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/exhibits/show/flaxcollectionofphysiatry/about-herman-j--flax/medical-career)
While at MCV he met fellow medical student Josefina Guarch; they married in 1940 and moved to Puerto Rico in 1941.[1] [1](https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/exhibits/show/flaxcollectionofphysiatry/about-herman-j--flax/medical-career)
Career
editFrom 1941 to 1944, Flax served as a district physician and Municipal Doctor in Manatí, Puerto Rico, and later worked at the Puerto Rico State Insurance Fund (1945–1950), where he developed a professional focus on rehabilitation medicine.[1] [1](https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/exhibits/show/flaxcollectionofphysiatry/about-herman-j--flax/medical-career)
In 1947 he trained under Harold D. Storms at the Ontario Workmen's Compensation Rehabilitation Center and later with Howard A. Rusk at New York University's Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.[1] [1](https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/exhibits/show/flaxcollectionofphysiatry/about-herman-j--flax/medical-career)
He became board-certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in 1951.[1] [1](https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/exhibits/show/flaxcollectionofphysiatry/about-herman-j--flax/medical-career)
Flax served as Chief of Rehabilitation Medicine at the San Juan Veterans Administration Hospital from 1951 to 1990 and as a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Puerto Rico from 1952 to 1990.[1] [1](https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/exhibits/show/flaxcollectionofphysiatry/about-herman-j--flax/medical-career)
After returning to the mainland United States in 1990, he consulted at VA medical centers in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and later was a lecturer and emeritus professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Virginia Commonwealth University.[1] [1](https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/exhibits/show/flaxcollectionofphysiatry/about-herman-j--flax/medical-career)
Leadership and contributions
editFlax served as president of both the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) and the International Rehabilitation Medicine Association (IRMA).[1] [1](https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/exhibits/show/flaxcollectionofphysiatry/about-herman-j--flax/medical-career)
VCU recognized his impact by establishing the Herman J. Flax, M.D., Professorship in 1997—the department's first endowed professorship in PM&R.[2] [3](https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/exhibits/show/flaxcollectionofphysiatry)
The Society of Education and Rehabilitation (SER) in Puerto Rico named a building for him in 2005.[1] [1](https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/exhibits/show/flaxcollectionofphysiatry/about-herman-j--flax/medical-career)
He also documented the history of IRMA and international rehabilitation development.[3] [4](https://www.abebooks.com/Braddoms-Physical-Medicine-Rehabilitation-Cifu-David/32362878813/bd)
Publications
editBooks
edit- September Songs (1984), a collection of poetry by Flax. [5](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/153848911/herman_jacob-flax)
- Songs of My Sixties (1987), his second poetry collection. [5](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/153848911/herman_jacob-flax)
- Four Score and Five (2002), a later book of poetry published by Xlibris. [5](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/153848911/herman_jacob-flax)
Journal Articles
edit- Flax, Herman J. (1990). "Geriatric rehabilitation." Chulalongkorn Medical Journal, 34(2), 95–102. DOI: 10.58837/CHULA.CMJ.34.2.1.
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Medical Career · From the Library of Dr. Herman J. Flax". VCU Libraries. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
- ↑ "History – PM&R". VCU Health. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
- ↑ "The International Rehabilitation Medicine Association (IRMA)" (PDF). ISPRM. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
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