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Early 70's: Less than 50 qualified licensed physical therapists in the country meant the lack of manpower to care for the 4 million disabled Filipinos, who had the need for at least 3,000 physiotherapists.

1974: Dr. Gilberto L. Gamez, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Surgery, decided to make a difference & proposed a solution to this problem. Dr. Tyrone Reyes and Dr. Ofelia B. Luna-Reyes, under the guidance and support of Dr. Gamez, planned the establishment of the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. The Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, as part of the Faculty of Medicine & Surgery, opened its doors to the public, offering the course BS PT & catching the attention of 45 applicants through an ad in a newspaper during that time. Applicants who already had a degree in Bachelors of Science automatically entered Juniors.

Our dear founders, Dr. Tyrone Reyes, and wife Dr. Ofelia Luna-Reyes, were appointed as the Institute's first director and assistant director respectively.

The 1977 batch graduated with flying colors (this was the batch which entered juniors at once).

1987: Through the efforts of Dr. Ofelia Luna-Reyes, the Institute was granted a semi-autonomous status academically, although it still functioned administratively under the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. Within the same year, the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine was renamed the Institute of Physical Therapy. The students of the IPT, probably the seniors had to air out a lot of frustration during the SY 1988-89, for this marked the transition of a 4 year course to a 5 year curriculum, of which we still use up to this day. Dr. Ricardo Agbayani became the third director of the IPT on April 1, 1990, as appointed by Reverend Father NOlberto Castillo, OP, the Rector of the University during that time.

1991: Fr. Danilo Tag-at, OP exclusively became Regent of the Institute after replacing the first regent of the IPT,    Fr. Fausto Gomez, OP.

15 december, 1993: The IPT was granted full and complete autonomy by the Very Reverend Father Rolando de la Rosa. Thus Dr Agbayani was elevated to being the first dean of IPT.

1995: BS Occupational Therapy was first offered in IPT, thus making it the Inst of Physical and Occupational Therapy (IPOT for short).

1996: Our present dean, Dr. Consuelo G. Suarez, was appointed as officer-in-charge of the IPOT. In 1997, she became the first alumna of the INstitute to become the Dean of the Institute of Physical and Occupational Therapy.

1998: Fr. Romulo Rodriguez became the regent of the IPOT. In the same year, IPOT was granted Level 1 accreditation by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU).

1999: The course in Athletic Training was opened, and the IPT celebrated its 25th year anniversary. This was the time when we guys fortunately/ unfortunately entered IPT.

2001: This marked the year when the IPOT received the honor of being recognized and renamed CPOT.

Mission / Vision

The college of Rehabilitation Sciences of the University of Santo Tomas is an academic institution composed of dedicated Catholic academics, competent in their respective field of expertise, who are committed  to produce highly skilled, morally upright, compassionate and dynamic allied rehabilitation professionals by providing quality education, research opportunities, clinical and post-graduate training in order to meet the evolving health care needs of the Filipino society and the global community.