Background: Whiplash is the most common traffic injury, affecting 83% of people involved in motor vehicle collisions. It results in a significant burden of pain, disability and health care utilization. Preventing chronic whiplash is a priority for clinicians, insurers, and policy makers. However, whiplash injuries are resistant to treatment and few of its prognostic factors are modifiable through intervention. One of the rare factors amenable to change is the provision of timely and effective clinical care. To date, no randomized trials that have investigated the effectiveness of a coordinated and staged multidisciplinary rehabilitation program aimed at improving the health outcomes of patients with whiplash-associated disorders. Moreover, it is not known whether rehabilitation programs are superior to physician care in promoting better health outcomes. Overall, there is a need for a pragmatic randomized controlled trial to investigate what program of care yields the best outcomes for patients.