Neurology Residency Program
Message from the Program Director
Thank you for your interest in Nuvance Health Neurology Residency Program. Our faculty and I are excited to share our knowledge and experience with passionate residents who are looking for a fulfilling Neurology Residency experience in a professional, collaborative, inclusive, diverse and innovative environment.
The Residency Program is based at our flagship hospital Vassar Brothers Medical Center, a 365-bed facility serving New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley. The modern outpatient Neuroscience Institute is located adjacent to the campus. In addition, our sister hospital Danbury Hospital in Danbury, CT, and our outpatient practice will serve as locations for a robust mix of acute and outpatient learning environment for our residents. Our teaching faculty is comprised of seasoned physicians with subspecialty training.
The goal of our Neurology Residency Program is to provide residents with high quality training, resources, and education to gain foundational knowledge in Neurology and related specialties through acute and outpatient clinical experience. The Program aims to provide our residents with a balanced clinical environment while emphasizing the importance of developing teaching skills and maximizing exposure to patients and clinical cases. As our residents progress through the program, they will serve in supervisory role to other learners when appropriate. The supervisory role, we believe, is critical for residents to develop clinical teaching, supervision, communication and leadership skills.
In addition to a well-balanced didactics and experiential learning, our residents will receive maximum exposure to a world of medicine where novel ideas and technologies come together to deliver quality care efficiently and effectively. Residents will have the opportunity to be intimately involved in innovative research projects and quality improvement activities guided by experienced faculty members. To date, our first two cohorts of PGY3 and PGY4 residents have participated in several technology-driven QI and research projects, and a few of them have been selected for poster presentations at IHI, ACGME, and AAN conferences.
We pride ourselves in our diverse and collaborative work environment. Residency will begin with a neurology bootcamp where faculty will provide interactive teaching sessions. Our Mentorship program partners residents with a faculty member to enrich and mentor their professional lives.
Nuvance Health Neurology Residency Program in PGY2-4 has five residency positions each year, all of which are linked in the National Residency Matching Program with a Nuvance Health Transitional Year Internship (PGY1). This allows a resident to complete all four years of neurology training within the Nuvance Health system.
We look forward to welcoming our new cohorts of PGY1 residents in Transitional Year in this upcoming academic year!
Sincerely,
Paul Wright, MD, MBA, FAAN, FANA
Program Director, Neurology Residency Program
Program Structure
As an ACGME-accredited Neurology categorical residency program, our curriculum and clinical training experiences will prepare graduates to be not only independent practitioners or candidates for fellowship training, but also leaders in the field of neurological medicine. As a categorical program, the PGY1 residents will complete their first-year foundational medicine training in our Transitional Year program. They will then advance to neurology residency for their PGY2- PGY4 specialty training. By graduation, all residents will receive approximately the same exposure listed below in terms of weeks. The structure allows residents to develop a solid foundation in neurology with the flexibility to tailor your experiences as a third- and fourth-year resident to prepare you best for your future career choice.
Categorical Program PGY1 in Transitional Year
- Six to eight months in internal medicine,
- At least two months comprising one or more months of emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics
- May spend up to four months in Neurology
- For more detailed information on the Transitional Year curriculum and faculty, please click here
Neurology PGY2*
| 8-10 weeks | Inpatient Neurology Consults |
| 6-8 weeks | Inpatient Neurology Wards |
| 4-6 weeks | Adult Neurology Outpatient |
| 4-6 weeks | Inpatient Night Float |
Neurology PGY3*
| 8 weeks | Inpatient Neurology Consults |
| 8-weeks | Inpatient Neurology Wards |
| 8 weeks | Adult Neurology Outpatient |
| 12 weeks | Pediatric Neurology |
| 4 weeks | Psychiatry |
| 4 weeks | Research |
| 4 weeks | Electives |
Neurology PGY4*
| 8 weeks | Inpatient Neurology Consults |
| 8- weeks | Inpatient Neurology Wards |
| 8 weeks | Adult Neurology Outpatient |
| 4 weeks | Neurosurgery |
| 4 weeks | Neuroradiology |
| 4 weeks | Research |
| 12 weeks | Electives |
*Actual number of weeks and rotations may change to meet ACGME requirements.
Continuity Practice
Neuroscience Institute at 21 Reade, a part of Nuvance Health Medical Practice, serves as the continuity clinic sites for our residents and is conveniently located a short distance from Vassar Brothers Medical Center. Residents will complete one or two half-days of continuity practice per week, at least 40 sessions per year in total, longitudinally throughout the program during most rotations. Patients who are cared for by residents on the inpatient unit or through consultation and require outpatient follow-up will be scheduled to continue care with the resident who provided their inpatient neurological care. Each resident’s continuity practice panel will be followed over a long period of time to ensure patient’s continuity of care.
Academic Offerings
Morning Report and Walk Rounds
Each morning residents and attending physicians join together for walk rounds that take place in the primary teaching site at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. The walk round provides a valuable opportunity for the attending physicians to have brief yet essential discussion with residents on the physical diagnosis and demonstration of elements of the neurological examine at the baseline. After the round concludes, residents and the attending discuss clinical cases that may be of significance and in-depth discussion on the clinical reasoning.
Noon Conference Series
Our Neurology Noon Conference Curriculum is the core of our academic and didactic series. Noon Conference lectures are taught by board-certified neurologists, specialty practitioners, and industry and business operation leaders. The curriculum is designed to provide residents to a wealth of clinical topics that are fundamental of the neuroscience discipline. The core curriculum series ensures residents have a full exposure to all areas of neurology basics and advance neurology topics. Other regular conferences include high-value care, health care disparities, the business of medicine, career development, resident as teacher and wellness.
Neurology Residency Grand Rounds
Monthly Grand Rounds conference occur on the fourth Friday of every month. The conference is a platform for faculty and invited speakers to present on a variety of topics, including case-based presentations, research, or current relevant topics in the field of Neurology.
Quality & Process Improvement
Quality & Process Improvement (Q&PI) Conferences occur on a monthly basis. Our residency program encourages residents’ continued engagement in Q& PI projects. Residents are required to complete at least project in their three-year specialty training period. This is to ensure residents possess the skillset and tools to complete the project. Residents initiate projects that will improve patient care or efficiency in a healthcare setting, and work with their mentor and faculty members to design a study that will safely and carefully test the results of a specific intervention. The monthly conferences are led by the Program Director.
Indications & Outcomes
Indications & Outcomes (I & O) conference are held every first Thursday of the month. Residents review and select cases of significance. The conference provides a safe venue for residents to identify areas of improvement, promote collegial discussion, ethical integrity and professionalism, and transparency in assessing and improving patient care.
Bi-Monthly Residents’ Journal Club
As a first step in learning how to effectively practice evidence-based medicine, residents participate in a bi-monthly Journal Club to appraise a recent study published in the medical literature. Each resident rotates to be a facilitator at monthly Journal Club. He/she partners with a faculty for development of the topic review and then presents the appraisal to his/her peers and faculty during the monthly Journal Club session. The Journal Club develops residents’ ability and skills needed to use information technology, assimilate scientific evidence, and then apply it to their patient care.
Board Review
Board review is incorporated into noon conference at least once a month led by dedicated faculty members. Additionally, residents are provided with access to Board Vitals and also have a generous stipend to reimburse board review materials of their choosing. Topic-based quizzes are assigned throughout the year to emphasize and practice board-type questions.
Residency In-Service Training Examination (RITE)
Residents’ medical knowledge and clinical reasoning is benchmarked for measuring longitudinal growth through the results of the annual American Academy of Neurology In-Service Training Examination. All neurology residents complete the exam annually. Results are reviewed individually with the program director to inform discussions and individualization of curriculum and clinical training (e.g., reading material, board prep and electives). Struggling learners can work closely with program leadership to improve study habits and test taking skills so that their confidence improves over the three years well in advance of the actual board exam.
Additional Program Offerings
Orientation – As a new Transitional Year resident, you will participate in a two-week new intern orientation prior to beginning in the program on July 1. This will help you adjust to residency life and provide you with an overview of programs, topics and required information. Non-patient care/medical knowledge curriculum topics are covered as well, including interpersonal communication skills, professionalism, systems-based practice and practice-based learning and improvements.
Academic Didactic Schedule
Research and Quality Improvement Opportunities
The goal of the Neurology Residency Program scholarly activity curriculum is to advance each resident’s knowledge of the basic principles of research and Quality and Process Improvement, including how it is conducted, evaluated, explained to patients and applied to patient care. All residents in the program are provided opportunity for, and are fully supported in, research and quality improvement (QI) pursuits. Additional research and QI participation by residents above the minimum requirements are highly encouraged. The Program Director Dr. Wright and core faculty oversee the development and conduct of scholarly activity projects that reflect each resident’s career goals. Dedicated Research rotation for second- and third-year residents are in the curriculum so residents.
Residents are strong encouraged to present research and QI projects within the department, locally, regionally, or nationally. Additionally, each year the Nuvance Graduate Medical Education Department will sponsor a Resident Research Day wherein residents can present posters and oral presentations on ongoing or completed research topics or clinical vignettes.
How to Apply
The Nuvance Health Transitional Year Residency Program thanks you for your interest in applying to our program. We accept all applications through ERAS only and participate annually in the NRMP Match Program.
Due to the impact of the pandemic, all interviews for academic year 2021-2022 will be held virtually.
Requirements
The following items are required for consideration for an interview. All items must be received through the ERAS application portal:
- USMLE or COMLEX scores
- Three (3) letters of recommendation
- Personal statement
- Current CV
- US Clinical Experience required
Important Dates
We interview candidates on select dates in October, November, December and January. These dates are provided to select residency applications via ERAS invitation. Other important dates include:
- Mid-September: NRMP registration opens
- Late October: MSPE (Dean’s) letters released through NRMP
- Late November: Standard registration deadline for applicants
- Late February: Rank order list deadline
- Mid-March: Match week
- Mid-March: Email notification of “You’ve Matched”
- Mid-March: MATCH DAY CELEBRATION
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Nuvance Health Neurology Residency?
As a new residency program, Nuvance Health Neurology Residency focuses on developing the next generation of neurologists who will be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and ability needed to practice medicine in an ever-changing healthcare landscape when they graduate from the residency program. The education and training they receive in Nuvance Neurology Residency will prepare them to be leaders in medicine and be proficient in practicing medicine in today’s world.
In addition to teaching the fundamentals of neurology, our residents work alongside with Nuvance Neuroscience department’s multi-disciplinary faculty team to learn and care for all patients with neurological disorders, including patients who receive neurosurgical and neuro IR interventions. Residents have the opportunity to work with innovative industry leaders that provide advanced treatment modalities and devices to improve patient quality of care and health outcomes.
As a community-based teaching hospital located in the beautiful Hudson Valley, we instill our residents the importance and the value of providing the best care to the diverse community. Our program works with local community partners to bring education and outreach that address neurological disease prevention and interventions. Our residents enjoy the community services they carryout that will make a positive impact to the health of the community.
About the Area