NWA Physiatry
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
NWA Physiatry helps patients to improve function and quality of life after injury, illness, or disability. Care is physician-led and focused on your needs and optimizing your quality of life.
For patients and families
A physiatrist is a physician who specializes in helping people maximize function and independence after injury, illness, or disability.
Physiatrists practice Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, often called PM&R. The focus is not only on a diagnosis, but on how that condition affects movement, comfort, work, family life, and independence—and what can be done to improve those outcomes.
Areas of care
Care focused on function and residual deficits after stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury and other neurologic disorders such as Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Cerebral Palsy along with associated disease processes such as neurogenic bowel and bladder.
Evaluation and nonoperative management of joint pain, tendinopathy and myofascial pain syndromes that limit comfort and activity.
Support for muscle tightness, abnormal tone and dystonia as a result of stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury and other neurologic disorders with attention to comfort, mobility and contracture prevention with use of pharmacologic interventions and botulinum toxin injections.
Help with therapy planning, functional goals, wheelchair evaluations, and orthotic or prosthetic recommendations when needed.
Ongoing physiatry care after inpatient rehabilitation or hospital stays, with attention to recovery progress and next steps.
Assessments for prosthetic prescriptions and common issues that arise with long term prosthetic wear including skin irritation, wounds and associated pain as well as treatment for phantom limb pain and phantom limb sensation.
Physician-led care
Dr. Drake is a board-certified Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation physician and the physician behind NWA Physiatry. An Arkansas native originally from Star City, she attended medical school at UAMS, completed residency at the University of Kentucky and returned to Northwest Arkansas to practice. Dr. Drake is married to her college sweetheart, who she met while attending the University of Arkansas and together they have three children and one chocolate lab.
With experience in both acute inpatient rehabilitation and outpatient clinic settings, and with her practice expanding into the skilled nursing setting, her goal is to help people restore function to the highest capacity possible while recognizing the pain and emotional impact that can accompany serious injury, illness, disability, and life-changing diagnoses.
Clinical collaboration
NWA Physiatry partners with referring physicians and other clinicians through collaborative PM&R consultation. Dr. Drake focuses on rehabilitation, function, mobility, and neurologic and musculoskeletal concerns—working alongside the primary medical team rather than replacing it.
Skilled nursing & facilities
NWA Physiatry provides specialized PM&R consultation for skilled nursing facilities and healthcare organizations. The rehabilitation physician complements primary care and hospitalist teams by focusing on function, mobility, neurologic and musculoskeletal issues, and interdisciplinary collaboration with therapy, patients, families, and facility staff.
Reach out with general questions about NWA Physiatry. Please do not include medical details in general messages.