Residency | Department of Neurology

From the Director

It is my absolute pleasure to share with you the wonderful opportunities...

Within the residency, we have devised novel ways to manage our busy patient load that optimize the balance between clinical work and learning. Strengths of our program include:

Residents rotate every 5 weeks between the hospital wards and ambulatory clinic to balance their inpatient and outpatient experiences.
Neurology rotations are dedicated to high-quality patient care experiences: Stroke service, Neuro-interventional unit, General Ward service, Neuro Admitting Resident (NAR) and Consult Service.
We offer ample elective time to pursue research and academic interests both inside and outside of neurology.
Our faculty are dedicated to providing protected learning time daily in our noon lecture series.

We also have a comprehensive didactic program. We teach neurology in a "top-down" core curriculum. Clinical and basic science content, along with pathology and neuroradiology, and relevant clinical neurophysiology are taught in month-long units at daily noon conferences. We begin with the cortex and end with the peripheral nervous system. Each unit is followed by a Jeopardy to encourage study and reinforce material.

Our People Are Our Strength

Perhaps our greatest strength is our rich and diverse patient population. Drawing from 17 counties that stretch from Pennsylvania to Canada, we are the tertiary care center for much of upstate New York. Thus, we see patients with the full range of neurologic problems, both commonplace and rare. Another major strength of our program is its warm, friendly, and supportive atmosphere. Residents have commented that, although we are a busy program, the stress of this is greatly mitigated by strong bonds amongst residents and between faculty and residents.

We offer individual 1 on 1 attending to resident learning experiences across multiple specialties in both outpatient and inpatient settings. The program's strengths cannot be described without shining light on our wonderful residents. Hard-working, dedicated, intelligent, motivated and fun, they come from all over the US and the world and dive into clinical neurology with vigor and excitement. They emerged three years later as excellent clinical neurologists. They are an inspiration.

Resident Centered Program

Upstate is a place for a resident to thrive and grow-- Our focus is you! Our faculty strongly support and mentor our residents with active learning and feedback. We offer monthly face-to-face meetings with program leadership to provide an open line of communication about the successes and challenges the residents are facing. We have biannual progress reports and feedback sessions one-on-one with the program directors. We strongly support our residents' endeavors in research and publishing by offering ample resources for travel to courses and conferences. We encourage our residents to become teachers and mentors to medical students through annual awards and monthly, hospital-wide recognition. The Wellness Lead resident coordinates bi-monthly wellness activities. Lunch is provided 4 days a week by the faculty.

Excellent Fellowships & Clinical Training

Our graduates obtain excellent fellowships in the sub-specialty of their choice. Some recent graduates and current residents have secured fellowships as follows at many prestigious institutions.

Current Resident Fellowships

Clinical Neurophysiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Clinical Neurophysiology at Brown University
Clinical Neurophysiology at Barrow Neurologic Institute
Endovascular at University of Pittsburgh
Endovascular at University of South Florida, Tampa FL
Epilepsy at University of Pittsburgh (2 recent graduates)
Neuromuscular Medicine at Duke University
Neuromuscular Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN
Neuro ICU at Massachusetts General Hospital
Neuro ICU at University of Texas, Southwestern
Neuro ICU at University of New Mexico
Vascular Neurology at Yale-New Haven Hospital
Vascular Neurology at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL
Vascular Neurology at Cleveland Clinic
Vascular Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital

A common observation amongst our graduates is that they found themselves better trained than peers trained at some of the country's most prestigious institutions. They feel comfortable and self-confident as neurologists and they feel well-prepared for the challenges, both of private practice and of academic neurology.