03/09/2026
Throughout March, we’re highlighting women who helped shape the field of physical therapy. We’re starting with Mary McMillan, often called the Mother of Physical Therapy in the United States.
McMillan trained in rehabilitation techniques in England before bringing those methods to the U.S. During World War I, she became the first physical therapist in the U.S. Army and helped train “Reconstruction Aides” who worked with injured soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital.
In 1921, she helped found the American Women’s Physical Therapeutic Association and served as its first president—an organization that later became the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).
Her work helped establish physical therapy as a recognized healthcare profession in the United States.