PM&R programs with the most MSK rotations

[Prionos]

I'm applying PM&R this year and have been trying to research all I can about all the different programs. The biggest difference between programs I'm seeing is the amount of inpatient vs outpatient rotations. Could anyone give insight to which programs have the most exposure to MSK/pain/procedural work vs the programs that are heaviest on inpatient TBI/SCI/stroke?

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[9732doc]

All PM&R residency programs are required to have 12 months of inpatient at minimum, 12 months outpatients, some undefined amount of Peds and Consults, and enough EMG to get to 200 (150 performed/50 observed). So that leaves you with 6-8 months of leeway to do other stuff. And this is where you're seeing programs add more or less OP rotations.

Mayo is often mentioned as being OP heavy (and also outstanding in quality of those OP rotations).
But you might also look for places with a lot of elective time. ACGME allows up to 6 months elective over 36 months. At such programs, you can stack as much OP as you want. That might be preferable even to finding a program with predefined OP rotations.

 

[flapjack3d]

California programs

 

[PMR2008]

number of outpatient rotations does not necessarily equate to better training. If a program has an in house sports/spine/pain fellowship usually it would mean more exposure to the fellows/didactics and better faculty. Also just because a program has a lot of electives does not mean you can setup electives anywhere. A lot of times they are limited to in house electives.

 

[TheGreatestTrochanter]

Things I would as on interview: what is the typical number of performed procedures that residents get during their training (diagnostic ultrasound, u/s guided injections, fluoro procedures, EMG, botox, or whatever else you are interested in). Having a fellow in that area likely means they are strong in that area (though not necessarily), but could also mean that the fellow sucks up procedures that residents now cannot do, or just watch.

This can be dynamic and change rapidly within a few years.

 

[PMR2008]

Agree. Having a in house fellowship means more exposure to procedures not necessarily performing more procedures. When I was a fellow at a academic PM&R program part of my responsibility was didactics and the PGY2's got exposure to procedures that I had not had in my residency. By the time they were PGY4 they were performing injections during the months I was on non injection rotations. I would still rather go to a program with fellowships since they usually pick form there own.

 

[Kissmyabjj]

I think this is a very reasonable question in general, but I would be very mindful about over-emphasizing this during faculty interviews. This is because while having a general idea about where your interests in the field lie is great, I strongly believe that it is important to at least try to appear that you have some interest in all aspects of PM&R. As was stated above, you will have to spend at least 12 months doing inpatient rotations. If all the candidate talks about is outpatient musculoskeletal care, he/she doesn’t make a great case for himself/herself being a receptive, reliable and hard-working inpatient resident. And truth be told, inpatient is where programs actually need residents to function.

 

[Kissmyabjj]

I think this is a very reasonable question in general, but I would be very mindful about over-emphasizing this during faculty interviews. This is because while having a general idea about where your interests in the field lie is great, I strongly believe that it is important to at least try to appear that you have some interest in all aspects of PM&R. As was stated above, you will have to spend at least 12 months doing inpatient rotations. If all the candidate talks about is outpatient musculoskeletal care, he/she doesn’t make a great case for himself/herself being a receptive, reliable and hard-working inpatient resident. And truth be told, inpatient is where programs actually need residents to function.

And this is coming from a guy who just finished a sports med fellowship.

 

[TheGreatestTrochanter]

And this is coming from a guy who just finished a sports med fellowship.

Agree. Maybe one question for the PD on approximate numbers only if you can't find it out from R4s the night before.

 

[Prionos]

I think this is a very reasonable question in general, but I would be very mindful about over-emphasizing this during faculty interviews. This is because while having a general idea about where your interests in the field lie is great, I strongly believe that it is important to at least try to appear that you have some interest in all aspects of PM&R. As was stated above, you will have to spend at least 12 months doing inpatient rotations. If all the candidate talks about is outpatient musculoskeletal care, he/she doesn’t make a great case for himself/herself being a receptive, reliable and hard-working inpatient resident. And truth be told, inpatient is where programs actually need residents to function.

Agreed. I truthfully am not dead set on MSK over neurorehab, just curious as I tend to lean towards outpatient.

 

[BadgerBadger]

From what I recall, LSU was heavy on sports med / OP rotations, and procedures.

 

[j4pac]

I went into PM&R completely expect to favor sports medicine. Come to find out...I was only biased because of my comfort level and background. Neurorehab patients are awesome. I’d recommend finding a very solid and well rounded program that will give you the flexibility to do whatever you want after you learn about everything the field has to offer while in residency.