Adult Residency Program

We consider our program to be comprehensive in providing residents with excellent training in patient care and basic neuroscience. The goal of the neurology residency is to provide physicians with the foundation of a solid neurological background and to train excellent clinical neurologists who understand the nervous system and are able to apply basic knowledge to the clinical evaluation and treatment of patients with neurological disorders.

Our fully accredited three-year program accepts three residents a year. The Neurology Service consists of attendings, neurology residents, interns, and residents from various programs including internal medicine, family medicine, emergency, and psychiatry. Below is an overview of the program design:

First Year (PGY-2): The first-year residents spend their time on the clinical services with approximately 8 months devoted to adult neurology rotations and the remainder of the time to child neurology and neuroradiology. The call schedule averages every 4th or 5th night during their first year, divided among their classmates and through rotators of various departments. During call, the junior resident will always receive back-up support from the chief resident in making clinical decisions. In addition, the junior resident on call will have an intern to direct and teach in regards to seeing consults and admissions. Residents are expected to master the fundamentals of neurology by the end of their first year.

Second Year (PGY-3): The second year of training is designed as a year of guided, personal study in diagnostic techniques and basic science disciplines. Residents take full-time rotations in neuropathology, clinical neurophysiology, and neuroradiology with supervised instruction from the faculty. They will be expected to participate in the activities of each of these divisions and to develop a program of independent study. They are expected to take call to cover for when the first year resident go on vacation. This averages to no more 5-6 calls the entire academic year.

By the end of the second year residents are expected to be competent in neuro-diagnostic procedures (including EEG, evoked potentials, EMG and nerve conduction studies, CT, MRI, and SPECT) and will be responsible for interpreting these investigations on their patients during the third year. The remainder of the second year is set aside for electives during which time the residents may engage in a clinical or laboratory research project under the supervision of a member of the faculty or take additional training in sub-specialized areas of neurology.

Third Year (PGY-4): The third-year resident will alternate as chief resident on the neurology ward service and the consultation service and will be responsible for patient management as well as instruction of junior residents, interns, and medical students. The chief resident on the wards service will be taking home call to help the junior resident make clinical decisions. In addition, there may be sufficient time to pursue research or any of the diagnostic or subspecialty areas of particular interest.

Neurology Adult Residency Curriculum

Year of Residency	Residency Program Curriculum
First year in Neurology training	Neurology Ward Neurology Consults	4 months
	Child Neurology	2 months
	Neuroradiology	1 month
Second year in Neurology training	Neurobehavior Child Neurology Psychiatry Consult Rehabilitation Neurosurgery	1 month
	Neuropathology Neurophysiology	2 months
	Elective	3 months
Third year in Neurology training	Neurology Ward Neurology Consults Electives	4 months
***This is a typical schedule; each resident receives approximately 1 month of vacation a year.

 

Resident Teaching Opportunities

Residents are provided with over 200 hours of teaching time a month. This includes the 3.5-hour educational conference, which occurs weekly on Fridays. The Friday Conferences consist of a one-hour lecture on neuroradiology, neuropathology, and neuroscience. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is one of the primary teaching hospitals for UCLA School of Medicine. Approximately, 30% of UCLA medical students take required neurology clerkships at Harbor. Therefore, medical students take both required and elective clerkships with house staff in patient care and academic life. Neurology residents are responsible for teaching medical students as well as junior rotating residents interns while training at Habor-UCLA Medical Center.

 

Research and Electives

Most of the attendings are involved in active research and they definitely encourage residents to participate. You're also welcome to do research in other departments and institutions. The current child neurology resident is doing research on mucopolysaccharidosis patients with the genetics department. Most of the research done at Harbor is interdisciplinary, and there is a large research instituion called LA Biomed which is on campus. There is no research requirement for this residency. There are 12 months of elective time. In the past, residents have done electives at other institutions such as UCLA and Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Other elective options are neuroophthalmology and neurootology.

Conferences

There are multiple opportunities to attend conferences throughout the year. The child neurology resident can obtain travel scholarships for the AAN and Child Neurology Society annual meetings, as well as other conferences.

Resident Salary, Benefits and Resources

Residents are appointed as Resident Physician at Harbor-UCLA and are entitled to privileges given to all LA County employees. This is a contract signed yearly.

Stipend: Postgraduate physician’s salaries and benefits are established periodically by the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, by way of County ordinance and or through an applicable Memorandum of Understanding with the Joint Council of Interns and Residents (JCIR). Salary is dependent on the postgraduate year of the resident. The Joint Council of Interns and Residents or JCIR is a statewide union organization for residents; the council actively addresses pay raises and other concerns of physician residents in the state of California. Members of this organization are made up of residents from various residencies throughout California, including Harbor UCLA Medical Center.  For more information, www.cirseiu.org

Salaries for January 1, 2007 to Jue 30, 2007 (A 2.75% increase is scheduled to take place on July 1, 2007; check back for the new stipend):

Year of Residency	Annual Salary
PGY-1	40,324
PGY-2	45,113
PGY-3	48,881
PGY-4	52,674
PGY-5	56,366

 

Vacation/Holidays: Each resident receives 20 working days of vacation

Professional Liability Coverage/Malpractice: Provided at no cost.

Disability: Provided by JCIR

Health/Dental Insurance: Residents are entitled to enroll in one of several programs approved by the County. Dependents are eligible for enrollment, however the resident will be responsible for any premiums related to dependent coverage if over the allotted stipend

Food: All meals are provided by Harbor UCLA Hospital Cafeteria while on duty.

Uniforms: Provided by Laundry and Linen Services. Each resident receives 3 pairs of scrubs and 2 white coats.

Parking: Provided free of charge to all Resident Physicians.

Library Services: Residents are provided with excellent resources for researching at Parlow Library, which is adjacent to the hospital. Copying privileges are also provided at Parlow Library. To visit the library’s website, click here.

Resident Health/Counseling Services: Confidential counseling support services are available to all residents.

Application Process

Applicants are required to obtain at least one year of post-graduate training (internship) in preliminary medicine or transitional year before starting the neurology residency. Preference of post-graduate training is in internal medicine or psychiatry. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center’s Neurology Residency program participates in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). All applicants for residency positions must apply through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). ERAS is an electronic service which will transmit the applicant’s information including the application for residency, letters of recommendation, transcripts, and supporting credentials to the residency director. The ERAS application can be downloaded from the following site: http://www.aamc.org/students/eras/. Please note that the applicant must apply for both the HUCLA PGY 1 year position in either preliminary medicine or transitional year and the HUCLA neurology residency separately. Selected applicants will be invited for interviews during the winter, which will be arranged by the applicant at his/her convenience. Other arrangements can be made in special cases by contacting the Program Director.

Medical Licensure

Appointees will be required to present a California State Physicians and Surgeons Certificate before the completion of his/her PGY 2 year. Failure to obtain a license will result in dismissal from Los Angeles County Employment.

For more information about the other training programs at Harbor UCLA Medical Center, you can visit http://www.harbor-ucla.org