NCC Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residency
The Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) Residency Program at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) is the sole Military training program for the specialty. The residency program is predominantly Army, but accept all military applicants with approval for training coming from the respective branch. The program also sponsors rotations for interns and medical students interested in the practice of PM&R.
Mission
The NCC PM&R Residency Program strives to provide training along a broad scope, ultimately producing military leaders in the field of rehabilitative medicine. Through partnerships with National Rehabilitation/ Georgetown, Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, INOVA Mt. Vernon in Fairfax, Children’s Hospital in D.C. and several other sites our residents receive training in a broad range of settings and patient populations. The recent creation of a PM&R Department at USUHS along with our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh allows for ongoing support of resident and staff research interest.
Program Summary
Following internship and completion of Step 3, our residents participate in a 3-year PM&R residency program.
Rotations/ clinical exposure includes:
- Outpatient clinics, WRNMMC- General PM&R, MSK Ultrasound, TBI, Amputee (6 months)
- Interventional Pain Management (1 month)
- Inpatient Amputee Rehabilitation, WRNMMC (2-3 months)
- Rheumatology, WRNMMC- (1 month)
- Sports (Naval Academy, Private outpatient Orthopedic Sports practice, Georgetown, Orthopedic Hand) (1 month)
- Radiology (Musculoskeletal and Neuroradiology)- WRNMMC (1 month)
- Spinal Cord Injury- NRH (3 months)
- Stroke- INOVA Mt Vernon, Sinai (3-4 months)
- Joint Replacement- Sinai (1 month)
- TBI- NRH (3 months)
- Electromyography- WRNMMC (6 months)
- Elective (1 month)
In outpatient clinic, residents will gain experience in injection techniques such as joint, soft-tissue, neuroma, fluoroscopic-guided, and ultrasound-guided. In addition, they will learn basic acupuncture techniques, intra-thecal baclofen programming, and EMG-guided botulinum toxin injection among others. Our clinic staff are also currently active in the regenerative medicine techniques such as platelet-rich-plasma and prolotherapy.
Inpatient experiences will prepare residents to manage complex rehabilitation patients via an inter-disciplinary team, run family and team meetings, and gain expertise in specific areas such as TBI, stroke, SCI, and joint rehabilitation.
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is an ideal place to train and practice PM&R, with access to world-class facilities and experts to include Orthotics/ Prosthetics, Gait laboratory, Occupational, Physical, and Speech therapies.
Compared to other PM&R residencies, our trainees receive 6 months of EMG training and many go on to gain ABEM certification in addition to their ABPMR certification. In addition, many of our residents go on to fellowships such as Pain management or Sports Medicine. Army training programs from Pain management are currently located at WRNMMC and SAMC.