Curriculum

Three Amazing Years

The three-year training program is divided between UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH). The following is a general layout of the three years of training. Our program supports individuality and flexibility in residency with the ability to adjust the schedules to help meet the needs of each resident based on their interests. Residents are given 15 vacation days (M-F) and 12 sick days per year. Residents are also given five professional days per year to be used for conferences or to take boards.

First Year Child Neurology (PGY-3)

The first year is focused on learning adult neurology and takes place at UAMS. The goal of this year is to learn the fundamentals of neurology with focus on localization. Per ACGME requirements, the year involves six months of inpatient neurology, three months of outpatient neurology and three months of adult neurology elective. Rotations are in one-month blocks for a total of 12 rotations. During inpatient months, residents spend time on the UAMS General Neurology Service but also have exposure to the UAMS Stroke and Neurocritical Care Services. During this year, residents are also involved in the night float coverage typically for two to four weeks per resident in this academic year. Outpatient time is spent in the UAMS Neurology Outpatient Clinics. Multiple elective options are available such as EEG/Epilepsy, EMG/Neuromuscular, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, headache, and neuro-oncology. Call during this year is in-house and is shared evenly with the PGY-2 adult neurology residents.

Below is a sample PGY-3 schedule:

Block	Rotation
1	Clinic
2	Stroke
3	Elective time
4	Wards / Night float
5	Elective time
6	Stroke
7	Elective time
8	Clinic
9	Stroke / Night float
10	Wards
11	Clinic
12	Wards

*inpatient time includes stroke service, night float and general neurology wards; vacation is taken during outpatient or elective months.

Second Year Child Neurology (PGY-4)

The second year emphasizes clinical training in child neurology and takes place at ACH. Rotations are done in four-week blocks with a total of 13 blocks in the academic year. Residents during this year of training do inpatient neurology for 7.5 blocks (30 weeks). During this time, the child neurology residents focus on neurology consultations within the hospital. Residents have exposure to complex consultations within the pediatric ICU, neonatal ICU and cardiovascular ICU as well as consultations through the general pediatric floor and emergency department. Pediatric residents are involved in the neurology inpatient service for the day-to-day care of the patients but the neurology residents will be available for guidance during this time. Two blocks (nine weeks) of the PGY-4 year are dedicated to outpatient exposure with five weeks of general neurology outpatient clinic time and four weeks of subspecialty clinic time. During the subspecialty rotation, residents are exposed to various clinics such as brain tumor, demyelinating disorders, tuberous sclerosis, SMA, spasticity, neuromuscular, neuro-ophthalmology and movement disorders. The remaining 2.5 blocks (10 weeks) are elective times that are chosen by the resident to help increase awareness of and develop the resident’s individual interests and goals. Several options are available including neurophysiology, neuromuscular, neuroradiology, genetics, rehabilitation, sleep and many more. Residents work with other trainees including adult neurology residents, pediatric residents and medical students. Call during this year is home call only. Fifteen vacation days are available to be taken intermixed in the academic year.

Below is a sample PGY-4 schedule:

Block	Rotation
1	Wards
2	Clinic
3	Wards
4	Elective time
5	Wards
6	Wards / Elective time
7	Elective time
8	Wards
9	Wards
10	Clinic
11	Wards
12	Elective time
13	Wards

*inpatient time (wards) involves mainly consultation service within ACH; Three weeks of vacation occurs during elective blocks

Third Year Child Neurology (PGY-5)

The third and final year focuses on refining your knowledge and treatment of child neurology disorders. More responsibility is given during this year, including the position of Chief Resident. Rotations are again done in 4-week blocks with a total of 13 blocks in the academic year. During this year of training, residents do 5.5 blocks (22 weeks) of inpatient neurology. The exposure is similar to the PGY-4 year but with more responsibility during neurology rounds such as leading rounds and educating other residents. Similar to the PGY-4 year, residents do two blocks (nine weeks) of outpatient neurology with five weeks of general neurology and four weeks of subspecialty clinics. One block (four weeks) is devoted to child psychiatry rotation and three blocks (14 weeks) are elective rotations. Residents work with other trainees including adult neurology residents, pediatric residents and medical students. Call during this year is home call only. Fifteen vacation days are available to be taken intermixed in the academic year.

Below is a sample PGY-5 schedule:

Block	Rotation
1	Clinic
2	Wards
3	Wards / Elective time
4	Wards
5	Elective time
6	Wards
7	Elective time
8	Wards
9	Elective time
10	Clinic
11	Child Psychiatry
12	Wards
13	Elective time

*inpatient time involves mainly consultation service within ACH; Three weeks of vacation occurs during elective blocks

Additional Details

During the three-year residency, research is encouraged with a final presentation of a research project or quality improvement project presented during the ACH Fellows Day that occurs in May of every year. To help foster research, a formal research educational course includes dedicated research elective time. It is anticipated that most projects will take place over several months of residency but this protected time will be allocated for intensive work such as IRB preparation, background literature review or manuscript preparation.