Residency training program

The goal of the Neurology Residency Training Program at UC Davis is to provide future neurologists with a broad exposure to patients and clinical situations. The program is designed to shape future clinical neurologists into discriminating physicians and scientists with a wide range of expertise. The Department of Neurology has built a solid training program based on the neurosciences and patient care. Residents are expected to complete the program with a strong neuroscience background, including the ability to comprehend technical literature with objectivity, discrimination and judgment.

Many department faculty members actively engage in clinical and basic neuroscience research programs. In addition, faculty members provide expertise in all subspecialty areas of neurology, providing a broad range of clinical and teaching excellence for trainees.

The UC Davis Medical Center is in Sacramento, a 20-­minute drive from the UC Davis campus. The medical center is the primary teaching facility for the UC Davis School of Medicine and postgraduate medical education. It offers complete inpatient services, diagnostic facilities and 24-hour major emergency medical services. It is also a major referral center for Northern California.

The neurology department offices are located at the medical center. Faculty members have offices at the medical center, the UC Davis campus, the Center for Neuroscience, and at the Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers in Martinez and Sacramento. Department research laboratories are also available at all locations.

UC Davis Medical Center adult neurology clinics are held at the Lawrence J. Ellison Ambulatory Care Center and pediatric neurology clinics at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, which conducts medical investigations of neurodevelopment disorders. The institute houses clinical and research sites for the study of these disorders, including autism. Clinics and faculty offices for child neurology, child psychiatry, developmental pediatrics and pediatric genetics are also located at the institute.

At UC Davis Medical Center, the Department of Neurology shares a 17-bed neuroscience inpatient unit, adjoing the neurological intensive care unit, with UC Davis Department of Neurological Surgery. Supervised by four full-time faculty members, neuroradiology facilities feature four clinical and two research magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, four computed tomography (CT) scanners and an angiography suite equipped for interventional studies.

Both inpatient and outpatient clinic training is offered to neurology residents at the Mather VA Medical Center, located about 15 minutes away from the UC Davis Medical Center. The Mather VA Medical Center has an outpatient facility and hospital with beds and is located approximately 15 minutes from the UC Davis Medical Center. The Mather Center contains a 100-bed inpatient facility and numerous outpatient facilities. Neurology residents rotate through the neurology outpatient clinics, electromyogram (EMG) service and inpatient consultation service.

The resident training program is three years with five positions available each year. One trainee will enter at the PGY-1 level, spend a year with the Department of Internal Medicine and transition to the neurology department for the second year. Four trainees enter the PG-2 year after completion of a preliminary internal medicine PG-1 year. Training in each successive year is designed to increase the trainee's responsibility and sophistication with regard to patient care.

In addition, each resident can spend time in a focused project under the guidance of a faculty member. This experience is designed to develop clinical neurologists into discriminating physicians and scientists, readily able to review literature and new developments in the field. Currently, a one-year ACGME-approved clinical neurophysiology fellowship training program is available to two residents who have completed three years of training.

All applicants must apply through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and register for the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). The deadline for receipt of all application materials is November 15. All application materials must be received through ERAS (no paper application materials, including CVs will be accepted).

1. ERAS application
2. Three letters of recommendation (one should be from a neurology rotation)
3. Dean’s letter
4. Medical school transcripts
5. USMLE scores (Parts I and II, if available)
6. Personal statement
7. Curriculum vitae (via ERAS)

Interviews will be conducted through the months of November through January with no interviews being scheduled between the week of Christmas and New Years.

Please note:  all spots for 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 entering classes have been filled.  Next available are for PGY-2 beginning 2011 and 2012 via ERAS.

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