Curriculum

PGY-1/Prelminary Internship Year

Preliminary Internship year is in conjunction with the Department of Medicine which includes 7 months of inpatient medicine, 1 month in the Cardiac Care Unit, 1 month of rheumatology, 1 month of stroke neurology, and 1 month elective rotation. In-house call is taken during the inpatient medicine months every 4 nights.

PGY 2 Rotations

• 6 months General Rehabilitation at Johnston R. Bowman Center at Rush University Medical Center
• 2 months Spinal Cord Injury at John H. Stroger Cook County Oak Forest Hospital
• 2 months Traumatic Brain Injury at John H. Stroger Cook County Oak Forest Hospital
• 2 months Stroke Rehabilitation at University of Illinois Chicago Hospital

The majority of the PGY -2 year is spent on inpatient rotations. Residents begin a 12 month schedule of inpatient rehabilitation where each rotation spans 2 months. Six months of general rehabilitation are spent at the Johnston R. Bowman Center (JRB), the rehabilitation facility attached to Rush University Medical Center. It includes initial inpatient hospital consultation, transfer to the acute JRB rehabilitation program and patient discharge plan which provides a comprehensive longitudinal patient care course. Consults come from the following services: Orthopedics, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Internal Medicine, Transplant Surgery, Hematology-Oncology, Cardiology and Vascular Surgery.

PGY 3-4 Rotations

• 2 months General Musculoskeletal, Neurosurgical ICU and Trauma ICU Consults
• 4 months Sports Medicine
• 2 months Interventional/Non-Operative Spine Care
• 2 months Interventional Pain Management (Anesthesia/Physiatry)
• 1 month Comprehensive Rehabilitation-based approach to Chronic Pain Management
• 4 months Electrodiagnostic Medicine
• 1 month Orthotics and Prosthetics in addition to:
  • Annual 6 week course during PGY 3-4 through one of Chicago’s largest Orthotics and Prosthetics group
  • Amputee Clinic
  • Seating and Positioning Clinic
• 1 month Pediatric Rehabilitation at Shriner’s Children Hospital
• 3-4 months for Elective Rotations offered during the PGY-3 and PGY-4 years
• Opportunities in the following:
  • Neurorehabilitation is available including spasticity clinic using botulinum toxin injections and intrathecal baclofen pump management
  • Balance Assessment and Treatment Program
  • Women’s Health and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

The majority of the outpatient rotations are during the PGY 3-4 years. The residency program provides a well-rounded, comprehensive and diverse experience in various interdisciplinary clinical settings: University, County, VA, Community and Private Practice systems.

Research

It is strongly encouraged (but is not mandatory) that each resident complete a research project by graduation. This may include a clinical poster presentation, publishable review article, retrospective chart review or an original prospective study.

Call Schedule

Residents are on-call 1 week at a time, Sunday through Saturday. On Sunday, Residents will be in-house from 7am to 7pm and then take call from home. Monday through Friday residents take call from home after 5pm. Residents take in-house call on Saturday only. Calls per year for the Johnston R. Bowman Center averages out to be as follows: PGY-2 residents 6 weeks/year, PGY-3 residents 4 weeks/year and PGY-4 residents 2 weeks/year.

Typical Monthly Didactic Schedule

Seasonal Didactic Schedule