Adult Neurology Residency

Adult Neurology Residency

Program Leadership and Committee Structure

Program Director

The Residency Program Director (PD) is appointed by the department chair. He or she is responsible for the supervision of the adult residents’ education and training, and secondarily supervises all of the adult fellowship programs as well. The PD leads recruitment efforts and appoints the members of the core faculty, Clinical Competency, and Program Evaluation committees. The PD functions as a liaison between the faculty and the residents and serves as a readily available resource for any resident encountering a professional or personal problem.

Associate Program Director for Clinical Competency

The associate program director (APD) for clinical competency works closely with the PD to develop and assess the residents’ clinical skills and assist in developing remediation plans when necessary. This APD chairs the Clinical Competency Committee (see below).

Associate Program Director for Curriculum

The APD for curriculum works closely with the PD, focusing on the overall structure of our didactics, including case conferences, clinical lectures, and a variety of other topics pertinent to the education of neurologists. Faculty with interest and expertise in particular subject areas are responsible for actually developing and delivering the content.

Associate Program Director for Patient Safety and Quality Improvement

This APD works with the residents to build on the foundation in patient safety that all UW Health residents develop during orientation by assisting with our monthly Systems of Care conferences (M&M), teaching the residents about root cause analysis, etc. The APD is also the residents’ local resource for developing QI projects intended to improve the care we provide and/or the residency program itself. This APD builds on the QI foundation that all UW Health residents develop during house-wide orientation and helps to develop in each neurology resident the attitudes and skills needed to succeed in the modern medical practice.

Program Coordinator

The Residency Program Coordinator is a staff administrator who assists the Program Director in the day-to-day and long-range operations of the residency program. A small sample of the specific duties include: submitting time sheets to the GME office, communicating with residents and faculty (by phone, e-mail or memo) regarding clinical assignments, organizing educational conferences, proctoring in-service examinations, managing resident orientation, and assisting with resident recruitment.

Chief Resident

One resident will be chosen to serve as chief resident during his/her final year (PGY-4) of neurology training. The chief shall be an individual who is accomplished academically and possesses excellent clinical skills. The chief is selected by the faculty with input from all residents. In this position, he/she is expected to assist in the management of clinical problems, provide clinical and personal guidance to junior colleagues, participate actively in the academic programs of the department, and with the Program Director, manage the residency training program. He/she will be expected to attend regularly scheduled meetings of the Residency Committee as a resident representative.

Core Faculty

 The core faculty consist of the 15-20 faculty members designated by the PD as most closely involved in resident education. They assist the PD in reviewing applications to the program, interviewing candidates, and developing the rank list. See Resident Eligibility and Selection Process below. The core faculty serve as mentors for our residents, and many serve on specific committees such as the Clinical Competency and Program Evaluation committees (see below).

Clinical Competency Committee (CCC)

The main purpose of the CCC is to review resident performance and ensure that each resident is progressing in the program and on track to sit for the neurology boards. See the section Resident Evaluation below. The CCC members are appointed by the program director, and include an associate program director for clinical competency, who chairs the committee. Several other members of the core faculty also serve on this committee. The charge of the CCC includes review of the following, which is done on at least a semi-annual basis:

  • Evaluations provided by faculty, staff, and patients (360 evaluations)
  • Conference attendance
  • RITE scores
  • Work hour reports and resident well-being
  • Progress with respect to the neurology milestones

After considering all of the above, the CCC will advise the program director whether the resident should be promoted to next level or graduate, or whether he/she requires remediation, non-promotion, or dismissal. Adverse actions taken by the CCC will comply with both departmental and UW Health policies regarding such. See the UWHC policies Resident Expectations and Discipline and Academic Improvement and Resident Grievances Related to the Learning and Working Environment.

Program Evaluation Committee (PEC) 

The PEC oversees a variety of matters related to overall quality of the residency program and advises the program director accordingly. The PEC is chaired by the program director, who appoints additional faculty and residents. Most of our core faculty, including the department chair and vice chairs and the associate program directors, serve on the PEC. The chief resident is a member, as are representatives from the PG2 and PG3 years, along with the program coordinator and assistant coordinators. The committee’s charge includes:

  • Reviewing the program’s overall mission and aims
  • Identifying program strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
  • Developing specific goals and objectives
  • Guiding quality improvement efforts

The PEC conducts an annual program evaluation that includes assessment of the following:

  • The clinical and didactic curricula
  • Outcomes from prior years’ program evaluations and the resulting plans
  • ACGME correspondence (citations, areas for improvement, and comments)
  • Quality and safety of patient care
  • Aggregate resident and faculty
    • Well-being
    • Recruitment and retention
    • Workforce diversity
    • Engagement in QI and patient safety
    • Scholarly activity
    • ACGME-deployed resident and faculty surveys
    • Anonymous, confidential, written evaluations of the program by the residents and faculty
  • Aggregate resident
    • Achievement of the milestones
    • RITE scores
    • Board pass rates
    • Graduate performance
  • Aggregate faculty
    • Evaluations (as teachers)
    • Professional development

Each year, the PEC develops an action plan based on the annual program evaluation and distributes such to the faculty and residents. Every ten years, the PEC conducts a comprehensive self-study, reviewing long-term trends in the annual program evaluations, the current and future environmental contexts, etc. in order to maintain continuous improvement in the residency program.

Latest revision: 09-1-2022

Natalie Wheeler, MD, JD