Residency Curriculum

Rotation Schedule

PGY-I (Inpatient unless otherwise specified)

6 months - Internal Medicine (4 months Inpatient and 2 months Outpatient)
1 month - Neurosurgery
1 month - Burn, Plastic Surgery (Outpatient)
1 month - Neurology
1 month - Trauma Surgery
1 month - Emergency Medicine
1 month - PM&R

PGY-II

4 months – Amputee/General Rehab (Inpatient and Consults)
4 months - Spinal Cord Injury/Brain Injury (Inpatient and Consults)
4 months - Clinic

PGY-III

4 months - EMG
4 months - Pediatric Rehab Clinic and Consults
3 months - Clinic
1 month - Sub Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation

PGY-IV

2 months - EMG
2 months - Electives
1 month - Research
4 months - Stroke/Musculoskeletal (Inpatient and Consults)
2 months - Clinic
1 month - Cardiac Rehab/Geriatrics

Resident Lectures

The didactic curriculum includes the following topics, which are presented in two 18-month cycles on Wednesdays from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

• Introduction to Rehabilitation Medicine
• Neuro Rehab - Brain/TBI/Stroke
• Geriatric Rehab
• Professionalism and Communications
• Modalities
• Research
• Business Module
• Prosthetics
• Cardiac & Other Rehab
• Musculoskeletal, Joint, Connective Tissue, Burn
• Orthotics
• Integrative Medicine
• Pediatric Rehab
• Spinal Cord Injury
• Pain Management

Other Educational Opportunities

EMG Lecture Series (Odd Wednesdays, 7:15 AM)

Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation residents and Neurology residents are taught by the Neurology faculty about electrodiagnostic evaluations. This year-long lecture series is provided to ensure residents understand the basics of EMG/NCS.

Electrodiagnosis Clinical Correlations Conference (3rd Friday each month, 7:30AM)

Conferences are attended by EMG faculty as well as Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Neurology residents. Neurology or PM&R residents present attending-selected cases. The clinical history, diagnostic workup, and electrodiagnostic evaluations are discussed.

Journal Club (3rd Monday of the month, 5:30 PM)

Assigned residents along with their faculty mentor select articles for discussion which are distributed in advance. The article topic correlates with the current lecture series. The assigned resident leads the resident and faculty audience in a targeted critical appraisal of the articles.

PM&R Grand Rounds (2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month, 8:00 AM)

Grand rounds are excellent opportunities to learn about recent updates, state-of-the-art practices and advances in rehabilitation or related fields. Presenters are Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation faculty, expert faculty from related departments, or guest faculty. Grand rounds are open to all.

Gross Anatomy Lab

Senior residents attend a prosected 12-week cadaver anatomy course with orthopedic residents under the instruction of orthopedic faculty members, and then lead a cadaveric anatomy teaching session for all the PM&R residents.

Neuro-Radiology Conference

Residents may elect to attend the weekly neuro-radiology conference to review imaging studies of patients on the inpatient neurology service. The conference faculty are attending physicians in neuro-radiology and neurology. The conference is attended by neurology residents.

Board Review

Residents are encouraged to participate in group study sessions that meet on a regular basis under the guidance of faculty to prepare for written and oral board examinations required for board certification in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Mock Oral Examinations

Annual mock oral examinations are conducted by PM&R faculty. These oral examinations are tailored to the skills residents should possess at their year of training. This examination is to help prepare residents for the second part of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialty boards.

Resident Case Presentations (5th Wednesday of the month, 8:30 AM)

Residents present interesting cases highlighting common or unusual rehabilitation problems. Presentations include symptoms, work up, imaging studies, diagnostic considerations and treatment plan. The conference is attended by faculty and residents, and exchange of ideas and input from the audience is encouraged.

Morbidity and Mortality Conferences (4th Wednesday of the month, 9:00 AM)

Our monthly morbidity and mortality conference is a formal quality-assurance program in which residents present cases to review major morbidities, “near misses” and all mortalities involving rehabilitation patients. This conference is attended by faculty and residents, therapists, and nursing staff; in addition, consultants from other departments may also be invited. There is open, free and constructive discussion of the cases as it relates to quality assurance and improved patient care. Confidentiality is maintained, and the environment promotes individual, group and systems-based interventions to prevent avoidable errors, minimize complications, and improve safety and patient care.