Year One (PGY 2)

The resident spends this year rotating through some of the hospitals participating in resident education: The Center for Rehabilitation Medicine at Emory University Hospital, The Shepherd Center, and Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital, at the discretion of the Program Director in compliance with the PM&R residency guidelines. First year residents are expected to:

• Perform general rehabilitation care for both inpatients and outpatients under direct supervision of an attending physician.
• Be familiar with the physiatric approach to history and physical examination.
• Follow patients with allied health personnel under direct supervision of attending physician.
• Assist the attending physician on consultations.
• Attend and participate in scheduled teaching sessions, journal club, radiology conferences, and other educational sessions
• Begin performing electromyography under direct supervision of attending physician
• Participate in Resident Self-Education Series
• Select a research topic and begin working with an appropriate mentor. Presentations will be made in June of each year on Resident’s Day.
• Prepare and present Chief of Service presentations.
• Begin training in physiatric interventions under direct supervision of attending physician.
• Interact with ancillary staff in Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Therapeutic Recreation and Nursing to help devise a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for patients on service and in clinic.
• Be familiar with physical modalities, orthotics and prosthetics.
• Contribute to the leadership of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation team
• Be familiar with musculoskeletal examination
• Begin to  evaluate current academic literature
• Participate in the evaluation of patients with post-polio syndrome and neuromuscular disease.
• Learn indications and techniques for appendicular arthrocentesis, bursal injections, myofacial intervention, neurolysis, ITB trial and motor point blocks.
• Begin to work with Emory Team Physicians in the training room and at sporting events

Year Two (PGY 3)

Second year residents  divide a two month rotation between Cardiac Rehab and Research, and the remainder of year divided among the affiliated hospitals, including the VA, Shepherd, Emory University School of Medicine University Hospital, Grady and Scottish Rite Pediatric Hospital.  The resident continues work at these affiliated hospitals, and will be generally increase his/her level of involvement at the discretion of the Program Director and in compliance with the PM&R residency guidelines. Second year residents are expected to:

• Make decisions concerning patient referral, intake and orientation, assessment and evaluation, program management, treatment and training, discharge and outpatient follow-up under direct attending supervision.
• Provide increasing medical direction to the allied health disciplines under direct attending supervision.
• Conduct consultations under direct attending supervision.
• Evaluate for prosthetics and orthotics under direct attending supervision.
• Conduct journal clubs, radiology conferences and other scheduled educational sessions.
• Perform electromyographic and related diagnostic studies under direct attending supervision.
• Continue research work on project started in PGY-2 year, and prepare and present research "progress report" in June at Resident’s Day.
• Assist with teaching of junior residents and medical students in the department.
• Advanced training in physiatric interventions.
• Contribute to the editorship of rehab related journals
• Participate in a wide range of sports related activities including coverage of local sporting events and in the training rooms along with team physicians.
• Participate in Resident Self-Education Series
• Obtain interesting patients for case report presentation at regional or national conferences.
• Begin learning physiatric interventional procedures such as LESI, caudal injections, facet blocks, medial branch block and fluoroscopically guided SI joint and hip arthrocentesis.

Year Three (PGY 4)

Third year residents will rotate at the VA, The Shepherd Center and Emory Orthopaedic Spine Center. Additionally, two months spent in elective clinical or research rotations at the discretion of the Program Director in compliance with PM&R residency guidelines. Third year residents are expected to:

• Serve in an advisory capacity to junior residents on services under the direct supervision of an attending physician.
• Provide medical direction for allied health disciplines services under the direct supervision of an attending physician.
• Assist in outpatient clinics under the direct supervision of an attending physician.
• Perform electrodiagnostic procedures under direct supervision of attending physician.
• Lead journal club, radiology conferences and other scheduled teaching sessions.
• Prepare and present a completed research project for publication at Resident’s Day in June.
• Take an active part in the medical student teaching program, and in teaching of allied health professions' staff and students.
• Attend specialty clinics as identified by the Program Director.
• Participate in Resident Self-Education Series.
• Advance their techniques in additional physiatric intervention including lumbar and cervical epidural steroid injections, facet and paramedian injections, discography, IDET, vertabroplasty, and radiofrequency ablation 
• Attend AAPM&R national conference
• Advance coverage of sporting events & pre-participation evaluations

 Resident Procedures

• Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures taught during residency include the following:
• Neurolysis - phenol, bupivacaine, alcohol to motor points and nerves (musculocutaneous, femoral, obturator, median, ulnar, sciatic)
• Botulinum toxin motor point blockade
• Intrathecal Baclofen trials
• Spinal injections including interventional pain procedures
• Electromyography and nerve conduction studies.
• Corticosteroid arthrocentesis to include shoulder, knee, and hip as well as bursal injections.
• Trigger-point injections and myofascial release
• Electrical stimulation and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation

Sample Rotaton Schedule