Neurology Residency Program

Neurologic expertise is obtained both through clinic work as well as dedicated and protected educational time to help build one’s knowledge base.  Our program has many recurring educational conferences that provide residents multiple ways to participate in interactive learning sessions.  More information about conference details can be found here.

The core conference time for residents is a 3 hour weekly session that occurs every Wednesday afternoon on the Anschutz Medical Campus that are broadcast to all clinical sites and are recorded for later viewing for those who cannot attend.  The didactic curriculum is divided into specific blocks that allow an in-depth exploration over the course of several weeks into specific specialties and topics.

The didactic curriculum is based upon a three-tiered approach to resident learning.  Clinical topics, as below, are supplemented with basics of neuroscience such as neuroanatomy, neuropharmacology, and neuropathophysiology.  The third tier includes “professional development” with a wide range of topics including QI methodology, billing and coding, developing leadership skills, and the “business” of neurology including negotiating contracts and running a private practice.

Our didactic blocks include, but are not limited to:

• Emergencies in Neurology
  • In July and August, lectures are geared towards approaches to urgent and emergent neurological disorders preparing residents for what they are likely to encounter on the wards and the ER.  This includes stroke alert simulations that all PGY-2s participate in.
• Cerebrovascular Disease
• Movement Disorders
• Epilepsy and EEG
• Demyelinating and Inflammatory Disorders
• Neuromuscular and EMG
• Behavioral Neurology
• Headache
• Neuro-Ophthalmology
• Neuro-Infectious Disease
• Neuro-Oncology
• Sleep Disorders
• Pediatric Neurology

   

   

   

  Example didactic block schedule:

   

  CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASE

  DATE/TIME	TOPIC	PRESENTER
  8/26
  1-2 PM	Stroke Anatomy and Stroke Syndromes	Pollard
  2-3 PM	Neuro-imaging of acute stroke	Hartman
  3-4 PM	Ischemic stroke: epidemiology and risk factors	Jones
  4-5 PM	Common Causes: small vessel and large artery	Poisson
  9/2
  1-2 PM	Strategic Planning Meeting	Ney/West/Omran/Pratt
  2-3 PM	Common Causes: cardioembolic and ESUS	Orjuela
  3-4 PM	Uncommon causes of stroke	Malenky/Orjuela
  4-5 PM	Secondary stroke prevention	Omran
  9/9
  1-2 PM	Stroke in children and young adults	Barry
  2-3 PM	Intracranial hemorrhage	Case
  3-4 PM	Subarachnoid hemorrhage	Morel/Omran
  4-5 PM	Business of Medicine Part 2	Pope

   

We strongly believe that wellness is at the core of successful residency training. Attention to well-being is essential for optimizing learning, promoting compassionate and highly skilled patient care, and career satisfaction. To this end, we take a multi-faceted approach to promote wellness within our program.

We have developed a formal wellness curriculum built into our educational didactic sessions. The overarching goal of this curriculum is to help residents navigate the unique challenges of intensive residency training. Formal lectures focus on topics including sleep and fatigue, burnout and depression and moral distress.  Additionally, our resident and faculty wellness champions lead residents through debriefing sessions around difficult clinical encounters. Through education and systematic change, we strive to provide residents the essential tools to recognize challenges and develop resiliency to address them directly.

Multiple pre-scheduled days off are provided for residents during discrete rotations to allow for time to attend personal appointments and provide self-care.

Informally, the Department of Neurology sponsors monthly activities for residents to promote relationships outside of the hospital. Activities include happy hours, BBQs, baseball games, Top Golf, concerts and more. Additionally, residents organize regular outings amongst themselves to take advantage of everything that Denver and the Rocky Mountains has to offer including activities such as hiking, biking and skiing trips.

The GME at the University of Colorado also provides interactive online modules focused on resident wellness. Additionally, residents have free 24/7 access to the Resident Mental Health Clinic via scheduled and walk in appointments.

Career Development

We strongly believe in our obligation to prepare residents for their future careers and to provide a well-rounded experience so that residents are prepared for future practice, no matter what direction they take.

Medical Education

Medical education is at the core of the residency program. Residents have numerous opportunities to formally and informally participate in teaching of medical students and fellow residents as well as on a departmental level. Additionally, opportunities exist to be evaluated and receive formal feedback of effectiveness of teaching. Interested residents can participate in formal residency and medical student education meetings and directly influence the future curriculum.

The Academy of Medical Educators provides rich opportunities and resources to hone teaching skills. Through the University of Colorado Academy of Medical Educators, residents can participate in an extremely popular one month teaching elective. Residents and Fellows as Medical Educators elective. 

Patient Safety and Quality Improvement

The Department of Neurology has a robust program focused on quality improvement in all aspects of the department (including teaching). Working with our department based clinical QI leadership team, all residents participate in at least one QI project during their residency, although many participate in several projects! As part of the didactic curriculum, residents also learn QI methodology such as performing root cause analyses. Residents will also participate in quarterly case care conferences given in place of Grand Rounds.

Research

Research opportunities are abundant in the Department of Neurology and include everything from basic neuroscience, clinical, educational and quality improvement research. Residents learn fundamentals of research methodologies and design through their didactic curriculum and journal club experiences. From there, the sky is the limit! Residents are encouraged to explore their research interests early and develop projects with their mentors. Presentations at national meetings and publications are widely encouraged. All residents will complete at least one research project during their residency and will present at least one poster and one platform presentation at the annual Neurology Department Research Retreat.

Personalized Mentorship

Every resident at the University of Colorado is assigned a faculty mentor beginning in their PGY-1 year. Mentors and mentees are required to meet several times a year and explore personal and professional goals. Recognizing that no one is able to successfully achieve their goals with a single mentor, faculty mentors recognize the importance of “pulling in” other mentors to help develop research and sub-specialty interests. Additionally, every 6 months each resident meets with the Program Director or Associate Program Director to discuss progress throughout residency, career interests and goals.​