Curriculum

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Adult Neurology faculty member teaching a course at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.

Clinical training

The Adult Neurology Residency at Mayo Clinic's campus in Jacksonville, Florida, is divided into two parts: an initial year (PGY-1) of graduate medical education in internal medicine followed by three years of adult neurology residency training (PGY-2 through PGY-4).

PGY-1

The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) requires that you spend one year in an accredited internal medicine program in the U.S. or Canada, or in a transitional program that has been approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and includes at least six months in internal medicine. No neurology residency credit will be given for time spent in a residency program for another medical specialty. The requirements for the PGY-1 year can be found on the ACGME website.

Applicants who match in our Neurology Residency Program are guaranteed a position in our one-year Internal Medicine Preliminary Residency Program.

A unique feature of the Adult Neurology Residency in Florida is the "Transition to Neurology" course. This course occurs during May and June of the PGY-1 year. The first month is built on a program of didactics on a variety of topics in neurology, simulations of emergent neurological conditions including brain attacks and status epilepticus, and lumbar puncture training.

In June, you are immersed into the inpatient service where you will learn the workflow and get acquainted with the multidisciplinary care teams. You will spend time with both the general neurology and vascular neurology services.

PGY-2, PGY-3, PGY-4

The Adult Neurology Residency emphasizes the essentials necessary to become skilled in the practice of neurology. Our department hopes to instill in its residents an interest and enthusiasm for patient care, education and research.

You begin the Adult Neurology Residency (PGY-2) with a mixture of hospital and outpatient experiences. Most of your PGY-3 year is spent pursuing elective rotations as well as learning clinical neurophysiology and gaining exposure to pediatric neurology. In your PGY-4 year, you have greater responsibility at the hospital and outpatient clinic.

On clinical assignments, you are the primary physician seeing several new neurology patients each day. During hospital assignments, you supervise and teach junior neurology residents, internal medicine residents, and medical students. You evaluate and manage both routine and emergent admissions and provide consultations for other services.

Throughout your residency, you receive regular didactic and clinical instruction in neurology, neuroradiology, neuroanatomy, and neuropathology. As your experiences increase during your residency, you are given greater responsibility in both patient management and resident education.

Continuity clinic

You attend a continuity clinic for one half-day a week throughout the three years. In this clinic, you develop experience with consistent follow-up of patients requiring ongoing care for a variety of neurological disorders.

Call frequency

Mayo Clinic follows the recommendations of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). We take the ACGME work hour standards very seriously and ensure full compliance.

We utilize a night float system where residents rotate in two-week blocks covering the hospital service Monday-Friday from 6 p.m.-7 a.m. Weekend call responsibilities are distributed amongst all of the adult neurology residents. PGY-2 residents share weekend day responsibilities. PGY-3 and PGY-4 residents share weekend night responsibilities. There are no 24-hour call shifts.

Rotations to other Mayo Clinic sites

There are opportunities to pursue elective rotations at our Mayo Clinic campuses in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, and Rochester, Minnesota. This allows residents to collaborate with our neurology colleagues across the Mayo Clinic enterprise.

Mayo International Health Program

You are encouraged to take advantage of the Mayo International Health Program, which helps Mayo residents and fellows pursue elective rotations and provide medical care to underserved international populations in well-planned, mentored settings. The program provides selected participants between $2,500-$3,000 in financial support to help defray travel and basic living expenses.

Didactic training

Clinical conferences, seminars, small discussion groups, journal clubs, one-on-one instruction and formal didactic courses are integral parts of the Adult Neurology Residency. There is a dedicated neuroanatomy course during the fall of the PGY-2 year and the clinical neurophysiology and neuroscience courses take place during the PGY-3 year.

A Neurology Core Lecture Series is given during all three years of your residency. Our residents are involved in both quality improvement and practice improvement projects.

Research training

All neurology residents are required to conduct scholarly activity during the residency. You may do a chart review, case report or original investigation. A clinical studies unit is available to provide support services, and there are resources available in the Center for Clinical and Translational Science. A list of faculty mentors and areas of interest is provided.

Additionally, all neurology residents are encouraged to complete the Fundamentals of Clinical and Translational Science (FunCaTS) course.

Teaching opportunities

You have the opportunity to teach residents from internal medicine and family medicine, as well as third- and fourth-year medical students, through bedside instruction and formal and informal didactic lectures.

Career development

You meet periodically with your faculty adviser and program director to discuss your career goals. Mayo Clinic often recruits staff physicians from its own training programs, so when you successfully complete the Adult Neurology Residency, new opportunities may be available at one of Mayo Clinic's group practices.

Evaluation

To ensure that you acquire adequate knowledge and develop the appropriate technical skills to meet program expectations, your performance is monitored carefully during the Adult Neurology Residency. You are formally evaluated by supervising faculty members after each clinical rotation and meet with the program director to review these evaluations. In addition, you regularly evaluate the faculty to confirm that your educational needs are being met.