Program Description

Clinical Rotations

Rotational experiences throughout residency are crucial for skill development. As your knowledge and clinical abilities grow, it is essential to refine your skills in diverse settings. Therefore, a mix of inpatient and outpatient rotations will be assigned throughout PGY2-4. Residents will rotate through multiple sites in the Charleston area throughout their 4 years; all clinical rotations occur in two-month blocks. Please see the clinical sites tab for more information on each specific location.

  • Broad intern year experience including time spent on Internal Medicine, Neurology, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Radiology, Rheumatology, Neurosurgery, Geriatrics, Orthopedic Surgery, and PM&R 
  • At least 12 months in the inpatient rehabilitation setting
  • At least 12 months of outpatient care
  • At least 2 months of inpatient acute care consultations
  • At least 2 months of pediatric rehabilitation, both in the inpatient and outpatient settings
  • At least 2 months of dedicated electrodiagnostic medicine. Exposure to EMG is also incorporated into all years of training during outpatient rotations.
  • 4 months of elective time in which residents are able to choose from a variety of pre-selected experiences including: EMG, interventional procedures, acute care consults, pediatric rehabilitation, and/or outpatient clinics. 

Conferences and Didactic Curriculum

Residents have protected didactic time Tuesday and Thursday from 7-9am. Core content will be provided on an annual basis. A new topic is covered monthly with residents. Topics for residency didactics include:

  • Anatomy
  • Musculoskeletal and Sports Medicine
  • Pediatric Rehabilitation
  • Spinal Cord Injury
  • Prosthetics and Orthotics
  • Electrodiagnostic
  • Acquired Brain Injury
  • Pain Management
  • Spasticity Management
  • Rehabilitation techniques and Assistive Technology.

In addition to core content, the didactic curriculum will include additional scheduled educational sessions including: mentorship, resident-led seminars, board reviews, invitational lectures, resident-led grand rounds, clinical case reviews, M&M conferences, and journal clubs.

Mentorship Program

Residents will be assigned to a mentor group upon matriculation. Each mentor group will consist of 1 resident from each PGY level and at least 3 assigned faculty members. Every attempt will be made to have faculty members from differing subspecialties of PM&R to ensure resident mentorship in potential areas of interest. This structure allows residents to have access to projects from their resident cohort and assigned faculty mentors as well as allowing longitudinal research that can be continued after resident's graduate and leave the program. The conference schedule and didactic curriculum includes protected time for each mentor group to meet. Every mentor group will be expected to have at least 1 quality improvement project and 1 research project initiated or completed per academic year.

Resident Call

All call PGY2-4 is taken from home. Residents have the option to evaluate a patient in the hospital if they feel it is warranted.

Resident Evaluations

Evaluations are completed after each rotation. Resident assessments will be collected from a variety of sources including faculty, support staff, and patients. Resident progress is evaluated Semi-Annually by the Clinical Competency Committee (CCC), followed by a review with the program director. Residents are also given the opportunity to evaluate faculty and each rotational experience.