The first school of physiotherapy was established with the support of the British Colombo plan at Yangon General Hospitalin 1960 and provided a two-year diploma course with training by Mr. Malcolm Peat, who was a registeredphysiotherapist (PT) as well as an advisor of the British Colombo plan from the United Kingdom. The entry level ofthat course was university second-year students or bachelor’s degree holders from the local universities ofarts and sciences. A total of 18 PTs graduated from that school.
In November of 1964, the first Institute of Paramedical Sciences-Yangon (IPMSY), was established under the Ministry of Health (now Ministry of Health and Sports) with the support of the British Colombo plan and provided four-year diploma courses in physiotherapy. The trainers of that institute were experts from foreign countries and internationally trained local experts. The training years of the courses were reduced from four to two in 1986, and diploma courses were provided until 1991. A total of 125 PTs got a diploma from that institute until 1991.The curricula for the courses of Paramedical Sciences were upgraded at the IPMSY in December of 1991.
From September of 1992 to 1994, the IPMSY offered a two-year bridge course to allow those who had finished the diploma course to become bachelor’s degree holders.A four-year bachelor’s degree course has been started at the IPMSY for those who pass the high school national examination or national matriculation examination with science and who have obtained the necessary marks of the national matriculation examination for the entry criteria of the institute in 1994.
The IPMSY was renamed as the University of Medical Technology, Yangon (UMTY) in 2005. The title of the bachelor’s degree was also changed from Bachelor of Paramedical Sciences (B. P. Sc.) to Bachelor of Medical Technology (B. Med. Tech.). To produce highly qualified and skillful physiotherapists, the two-year master’s program and the three-year doctor’s program were first established in the UMTY in December of 2003 and in January of 2019, respectively.