PGY-2 focuses on direct care of inpatients with neurologic disease; however, outpatient neurology experiences and elective blocks are interspersed throughout the year. Residents spend approximately eight months on neurology inpatient and consult services at four teaching hospitals. During these rotations, residents develop diagnostic skills and become familiar with management of acute neurologic issues under the supervision of senior residents and attending faculty.

Rotations are scheduled in two-week blocks. During most inpatient blocks, rotating interns and medical students work closely with neurology residents.

This is a typical PGY-2 rotation schedule:

At Parkland Hospital, PGY-2 residents take overnight in-house calls every fifth night. Overnight, the on-call PGY-2 resident triages ED consults, runs stroke codes, is the first to see the neurology patients in the emergency room, and makes decisions about patient disposition, including admission to neurology services. The in-house senior resident manages cross-cover issues for admitted patients and supports the on-call PGY-2. This has been a valuable mentoring opportunity for both juniors and seniors, and it exemplifies one of our main program objectives: "supervised autonomy."

PGY-2 residents assigned to rotations at CUH have no overnight call responsibilities, as there is a dedicated night float system for these hospitals.

Outpatient responsibilities are minimized while on inpatient services. There are no overnight (24-hour in-house) calls after the PGY-2 year.

PGY3 focuses on subspecialty and outpatient neurology experiences, with scheduled rotations in neuromuscular disorders, movement disorders, and electroencephalography. Residents may choose from a wide variety of additional clinical and research electives based on career goals or interests. See the core rotations and electives section for details.

ACGME-required pediatric neurology rotations are fulfilled at Children’s Health and Scottish Rite for Children, and the psychiatry rotation is fulfilled via Parkland’s inpatient psychiatry consult team. Residents also rotate among our neurology services at CUH and the VA Medical Center.

This is a typical PGY-3 rotation schedule:

Outpatient responsibilities are minimized while on inpatient services, and resident continuity clinics are minimized during elective rotations.

In the spring, residents and faculty elect two current PGY-3s to serve as administrative Chief Residents and one PGY-3 to serve as academic Chief Resident for the following academic year.

The senior resident fills a major teaching and supervisory role and is essential to the education of medical students, rotating interns, residents from other programs, and junior neurology residents. The senior residents triage and initiate treatment decisions for acutely ill patients. By the end of the year, the resident has become a fully competent neurologist who is well-versed in a variety of disciplines.

This is a typical PGY-4 rotation schedule:

Senior residents mentor and supervise juniors in-house during inpatient rotations. During Parkland night-float rotations, senior residents handle cross-cover for the primary neurology services while supervising and teaching the on-call PGY-2 resident.

The administrative Chief Residents build the inpatient, outpatient, and clinic rotation schedules. The academic Chief Resident oversees the core didactic schedule.

We offer several differentiated tracks that align with traditional career paths. These tracks are optional and are intended to streamline education in areas in which many residents express a desire for more formal training.

• Clinician-Educator Track (CET): The CET provides the foundations of inquiry, collaboration, and mentorship that are crucial to building a career in academic neurology and medical education.
• Clinician/Private Practice Track (CPPT): The CPPT prepares residents for a career as a neurologist in an independent clinical practice.
• Clinician-Scholar Track (CST): The CST provides structured, intensive instruction and mentorship to prepare for a career in academic neurology as a clinician-scientist by providing mentorship, workshops on manuscript and grant writing, and training in research methodology.
• Clinical Research (CR; Non-tenure Track): The CR track provides residents with instruction and experience in performing clinical research.
• Training Resident Doctors as Innovators in Science (TARDIS; Tenure-Track): UT Southwestern holds a Physician-Scientist Institutional Award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, which is aimed at increasing the number of single-degree physicians who pursue basic/translational research as a career path.
• R25 Track (RT; Tenure Track): Resident research is supported by an R25 research education grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and is designed to prepare eligible neurology residents for future NIH K award submissions.

UT Southwestern is a center of research excellence, and many members of the Neurology Department faculty direct research programs in clinical or basic science. All residents are expected to participate in scholarly activities during residency, and PGY-4 residents give an oral presentation of their research at the annual Neurology Research Days in May of their senior year. Many residents perform short-term projects that do not require time away from the residency curriculum. Longer-term projects lasting several months can be accommodated during the residency by using elective time. Many of the neurology subspecialty fellowships available at UT Southwestern are in one of the clinical or basic neuroscience research laboratories. For selected residents with a strong potential toward careers as clinician-scientists, we offer a structured research track.

Daily neurology attending teaching rounds are conducted on the inpatient and consult services at all rotation sites. PGY2s present cases at afternoon report on Mondays. PGY3s each present a clinical-pathological case conference on a Tuesday at noon over the course of the year. Departmental Grand Rounds are held every Wednesday at noon. Protected neurology residency didactics are held every Thursday afternoon from 2-5 pm; residents are excused from all other duties to attend. Didactics cover a broad range of neurology topics as well as RITE reviews, neuroradiology conference, research series, and journal club. Resident-led departmental Quality & Safety conference occurs on the last Friday of each month. In addition, each fellowship program and division has a variety of weekly conferences that residents attend during their subspecialty rotations.

Residents have up to 38 weeks of flexible core rotation and elective time during residency. Core outpatient rotations, such as headache medicine, neuro-oncology, neuromuscular medicine, movement disorders and EEG are built into every resident's rotation schedule. Additional clinical and research electives are available in subspecialties of neurology or related fields, including:

Residents may also select additional experience in core subspecialties.

Research electives: These typically consecutive weeks are devoted to a clinical or basic research project under the supervision of a faculty mentor. Future clinician-scientists may apply for the Department’s R-25 grant, which provides six months of protected research time during the PGY4 year and 12 months of post-residency research.

Over the last five years, 95% of UT Southwestern's graduating neurology residents pursued additional post-residency training. More than half of residents have chosen UT Southwestern neurology fellowships – a testament to the quality and breadth of our subspecialties, as well as the welcoming and supportive environment for trainees. Our graduates also feed other competitive institutions, such as the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Massachusetts General, Brigham & Women’s, UCSF, UCLA, Northwestern, and Mount Sinai.