Residency curriculum

Clinical rotations

Inpatient rotations

Inpatient rotations are done at HonorHealth Rehabilitation Hospital, HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center and Barrow Neurological Institute.

  •  Inpatient neurology
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Stroke
  • Spinal cord injury
  • General rehabilitation, including spinal cord injury, amputee care, cancer, cardiac, and trauma
  • Pediatric rehabilitation
  • Consult

Outpatient rotations

Outpatient rotations are done at Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Mayo Clinic and Phoenix Children's Hospital.

  • Musculoskeletal care, including diagnostic ultrasound
  • Pain management, including interventional spine procedures
  • Amputee clinic
  • Wheelchair seating
  • Electrodiagnostic procedures
  • Sports medicine
  • Neurorehabilitation
  • Palliative care

Electives

Each resident will have a total of five elective blocks.

Required rotations

See the Required rotations by training year (PDF).

Preliminary program

The PM&R program is four continuous years of training with the first year being spent in the HonorHealth Internal Medicine Residency Program.

There is no need to apply to a separate preliminary program.

Preliminary resident rotation schedule

  • Ambulatory Medicine – 12 weeks
  • Inpatient – 20 weeks
  • Night Float – 4 weeks
  • Sub-Specialty electives – 12 weeks
  • ICU medicine – 4 weeks

Call schedules

Residents will take call from home on average every fourth night during inpatient rotations. There will be no call on outpatient rotations (including consults) and pediatric rehabilitation.

Didactic curriculum

Residents participate in a 12-month didactic cycle consisting of at least four hours per week of core didactic material.

Residents are excused from clinical duties to attend didactic seminars and clinical conferences. Each week, the didactic consists of a lecture, followed by journal club/case presentation/EMG. The third hour is an interactive 60 minute session with the therapy team or ultrasound.

The academic half days are held once a week in the education conference room at the Honor Health Rehabilitation Hospital.

Board review

Residents participate in weekly board review sessions during the last hour of didactics, often with a board-certified physiatrist.

Educational conferences

Education funding is allotted to each resident and can be used to attend for those who have accepted poster presentations.

Reoccurring lecture series topics

"Grand Rounds" speakers from around the nation every fourth Wednesday.
 

Main lecture topics

  • Orientation series (Introduction to PM&R)
  • General rehabilitation
  • Radiology
  • Anatomy biomechanics and kinesiology
  • Anatomy lab
  • Electrodiagnostic medicine
  • Pediatric rehabilitation
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Musculoskeletal and sports medicine
  • Neurorehabilitation
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Cardiovascular, pulmonary and cancer rehabilitation
  • Burn rehabilitation
  • Geriatric rehabilitation
  • Rheumatology
  • Spasticity management
  • Wound care
  • Neurogenic bladder and neurogenic bowel
  • Durable medical equipment (DME)
  • Prosthetics and orthotics
  • Speech/nutrition
  • Pain
  • Therapies
  • Occupational medicine
  • Evidence based medicine
  • Ethics
  • Practice management
  • Well-being

Journal Club

In Journal Club, residents will learn how to review and critique articles while simultaneously reading about new and cutting-edge research in the field of rehabilitation medicine on a bi-weekly basis.

Lifestyle Medicine

The Lifestyle Medicine Longitudinal Pathway is designed to equip PM&R residents with advanced, evidence-based competencies in the holistic management of patients. Occurring every other week for one hour, this pathway provides structured, longitudinal education and practical skills development in the core domains of lifestyle medicine: nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, social connection, and addiction/behavior change. The curriculum is American College of Lifestyle Medicine to address the root causes of noncommunicable chronic diseases. Sessions incorporate didactic content, interactive case-based discussions, and experiential learning, including
motivational interviewing and self-monitoring exercises. The pathway is structured to fulfill eligibility requirements that will allow residents to become board certified in lifestyle medicine. This approach leverages the natural synergy between PM&R and lifestyle medicine, empowering physiatrists to lead interprofessional teams and deliver wholeperson, function-oriented care.

Morbidity and Mortality Conference

PGY 3 and 4 residents will present one Morbidity and Mortality case a year. They will work with an attending in preparing the case. This is part of the patient safety curriculum and helps with root cause analysis and improving patient care. Residents participate in Morbidity and Mortality sessions quarterly.

ResQIPS

Workshops hosted by Academic Affairs for all Honor Health residents. Curriculum includes fundamentals of research and quality improvement, statistical design and poster and oral presentations of research and quality improvement projects done by residents.

Residency retreat

Residents and core faculty participate in retreats aimed at team building, leadership and acquiring skills around teaching and lifelong learning.

Self-study

Residents are encouraged to develop individual learning plans and demonstrate continuous learning.