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Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Curriculum and Education

Didactic Curriculum

Our Program offers a 12-month core curriculum structure based on the topics covered in Parts I and II of the American Board of PM&R Examination:

  • Protected lecture time on Tuesday mornings
  • Annual introductory and advanced lecture series in July
  • Anatomy, Physical Exam in August/September
    • With clustered didactic days (ex. Shoulder Day has anatomy, physical exam, and diagnosis and treatment all in one session)
  • Topic-based lecture blocks (TBI, SCI, Peds, EMG, etc.)
  • Board Review Question Practice
  • Research Curriculum including Journal Clubs
  • Longitudinal hands-on Ultrasound Curriculum, including time at the UTSW Simulation Center with cadaver-based injection practice using US guidance
  • Annual Spasticity Day featuring neuromuscular ultrasound, with additional NM US practice sessions with the Chair and other esteemed faculty weekly to bimonthly
  • Monthly Grand Rounds
  • Panels and practice-relevant lectures (such as fellowship panel, job search panel, billing and coding, depositions, and financial lectures)
  • Disability Education Series
  • Adjusted yearly by program leadership and the Academic Chief Resident based on feedback

Other Educational Opportunities

UTSW Housestaff Emerging Academy of Leaders (HEAL) Program (HEAL UTSW: Faculty Development - UT Southwestern, Dallas, TX)

  • Mission statement: To support the professional growth, leadership development, and successful academic career advancement of resident and fellow physicians through structured mentorship, education, and skill-building opportunities

UTSW Effective Teacher Series (Curriculum Development: Office of Medical Education – UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas)

UTSW PM&R Go Fund – Donation fund from UTSW PM&R residency alumni that is allotted to residents to support travel to conferences or other educational opportunities

UT Southwestern DFW Adaptive Sports Expo (/ctplus/videos/adaptive-sports-expo-2025.html) – Annual event in conjunction with UT Arlington that showcases adaptive sports programs throughout the DFW area. Residents can volunteer for this event and many others through the Adaptive Sports Coalition (https://utswmed.org/conditions-treatments/physical-medicine-and-rehabilitation/adaptive-sports-coalition/)

Our residents have also participated in national programs, such as the Abbvie Emerging Leaders in Spasticity Program (Emerging Leaders in Spasticity), AAP BRIGHT Program (https://www.physiatry.org/resource/bright-program/), AAPM&R PGY2 Resident Retreat (https://www.aapmr.org/education/live-events/aapm-r-resident-retreat), AAPM&R PHiT Council (https://www.aapmr.org/members-publications/membership/physiatrist-in-training-council), and other programs!

Research

The UTSW PM&R department has broad research based in all domains of PM&R. There are research opportunities to support resident interests – clinical, benchwork, and quality improvement projects are all available. The chief resident for Resident Affairs assists with coordinating research projects between faculty, fellows, residents, and medical students.

  • Burn and TBI Model Systems
  • Financial and mentor support for generating new research projects
  • Residency-based and institutional grants available to support resident projects and travel to conferences
  • Unique cases seen at all clinical sites - a plethora of case reports/series available
  • Many faculty are invited authors for textbook chapters, PM&R KnowledgeNow articles, and review articles – residents can participate in these
  • UTSW PM&R Scientific Day – yearly scholarly symposium with guest speakers, including an opportunity for PM&R residents to present their research
    • Financial award given yearly to the resident(s) voted to have the "Best Research Project" at Scientific Day!
  • Quality Improvement Projects are a required part of the PGY-3 experience

Mentorship

  • Formal mentorship with an assigned faculty mentor, plenty of additional informal faculty mentorship as well
  • Informal resident mentorship
  • Informal fellowship-interest groups, matched by interest in specific subspecialties

All residents have access to numerous electronic textbooks and other resources (such as the BoardVitals board review program) via the Health Sciences Digital Library and Learning Center, including core PM&R textbooks, such as Braddom's Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. An additional educational stipend is provided for all PGY years.

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