Dr. Formal’s test score is highest in nation  

Philadelphia (December 2002)—Christopher S. Formal, MD, and Liane Sher, MD, physiatrists at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, have been granted Subspecialty Certification in Spinal Cord Injury Medicine by the The American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 

With their achievement, Drs. Formal and Sher join four other Magee physicians, including Willam E. Staas, Jr., MD FACP, the Hospital’s President and Medical Director, who have SCI Subspecialty Certification. In 2001, Michael Saulino, MD, PhD, and Dawn Rider, MD, were granted certification. Previously, Guy W. Fried, MD, also earned the distinction.

Dr. Staas, in extending his congratulations to Drs. Formal and Sher, added that “These most recent certifications again underscore the high quality of our staff of physicians at Magee. We are justifiably proud of their accomplishments, and of Dr. Formal achieving the highest test score in the nation. The long list of achievements of all our physicians is a good indication of the exceptional care Magee patients receive, and why Magee has gained national prominence as a premier rehabilitation hospital.”

Drs. Formal and Sher earned the certification by meeting prerequisites in medical practice and education, and by successfully completing a proctored seven-hour written examination in  Spinal Cord Injury Medicine.

SCI Medicine addresses the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of traumatic spinal cord injury, as well as spinal cord dysfunction not caused by injury. Questions on the Certification Exam address, but are not limited to: spinal cord trauma and disease; medical complications of spinal cord injury such as chronic pain, spasticity, pulmonary impairment, and gastrointestinal complications; orthotic and assistive devices, and the rehabilitation of persons of all ages with spinal cord injury.  

Subspecialty certification in SCI Medicine is designed to enhance the quality of care of patients with spinal cord injury or dysfunction. Physicians certified in SCI Medicine demonstrate special expertise in clinical knowledge and skill that improve the rehabilitation and care of individuals with spinal cord injury, and in diagnostic and management services for complex and severe problems related to spinal cord injury.

Christopher S. Formal, MD

Dr. Formal has been a member of Magee's medical staff since 1982, and is the Hospital’s Assistant Medical Director for Educational Programs. He is on the staff of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and on the consulting staff of Methodist Hospital.

His teaching positions include Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and Department of Physical Therapy, College of Allied Sciences, Thomas Jefferson University.

Dr. Formal is a member of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the Greater Philadelphia Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and the Association of Academic Physiatrists.

Dr. Formal has lectured extensively on spinal cord injury, and has published numerous papers and abstracts. He earned his MD from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1979.

Liane Sher, MD

Dr. Sher joined Magee in 1990. Currently, she is the Attending Physiatrist and Medical Director, Magee at Methodist, and serves as consultant to Methodist Hospital and Methodist Hospital Nursing Center. Dr. Sher is also Clinical Instructor, Consultant, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Previously, she served as Physiatrist, Consultant and Instructor at a number of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia area hospitals.

Dr. Sher is Board Certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine. Her credentials include a number of honors, including Fellow American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine and Fellow American Association of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Michigan, Dr. Sher earned her MD at the West Virginia University School of Medicine.

She is a member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the American Academy of Electrodiagnostic Medicine, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, the American Medical Association, and the Philadelphia County Medical Society.

While Dr. Sher’s lectures and presentations encompass a wide range of physical medicine and rehabilitation, her special interests center on electromyography (EMG), and geriatric, neuromuscular and musculoskeletal rehabilitation.