University of Pennsylvania

I am trying to think what the categorical programs are besides Penn.

I know UNC is 2/3 categorical and UVA is 2/4 categorical. Pitt is exclusively categorical now though DO candidates are provided with an appropriate internship at another UPMC related hopsital other than Shadyside. Who else is categorical?

I had the pleasure of interviewing at UPenn a few years ago and then work with their residents at Magee Rehab and the intercity course.

Upenn certainly has a national reputation in general. As a rehab department, it is an up and comer. Meaning, in the late 80's/early 90's the program went under. It is just recently that the program has developed and brought in faculty. The faculty tend to be very accomplished academics, I do not know how that translates clinically.

After speaking with pgy-3s, their pgy-2 year is very challenging in terms of clinical work and weekend call. They do get to do a month at Magee Rehab for inpatient SCI training.

In regards to musculoskeletal medicine, the big names at UPenn at Larry Chou and Curtis Slipman. Dr Chou has left upenn and gone into private practice. Certainly he is still a leader in the field, he ran the PASSOR section of the academy of physical medicine and rehab meeting this year. Dr Slipman is a very accomplished invasive physiatrist, is worked with more purely through fellowship. Perhaps, there other strong opportunities I am not aware of.

Hope this helps with your voyage in finding a program that fits you.

Hi LurkerX,

It’s great to know that you’re planning to rank Penn highly on your list. I’m glad that you found the interview day helpful, and I also would want to add more information about the PM&R program at Penn for you and those candidates who are interested.

The PM&R program at Penn has started to take an upward trend since the past few years. I understand that Penn had its issues in the past but let me try to clarify that those issues do not reflect the current program. Since the Chairman took charge of the program about 5 years ago, the program underwent many changes and transitions and now it heading toward a very positive direction. As of now, the program has been recently accredited for 4 years and its department is continuing to grow stronger and better.
I want to point out many improvements that had developed within the program in the past year:

Hospital Sites: The residency program is continuing to gather more Penn affiliated hospital sites for our residents to rotate and to gain further exposure in many fields. Currently we have five major hospital sites (HUP, VA, CHOP, Pennsylvania Hospital, and Presby Med Center), all are top-notched hospitals with great learning and teaching. As a resident, you will also rotate your training at Magee for spinal cord injury. We also have a great MSK rotation at Radnor. Dr. Larry Chou has returned and is staying on as adjunct faculty.

Radnor offers great exposures to sports/musculoskeletal injury/pain patients. For those who are interested in these fields, another great oppotunity to learn at this multi-displinary facility.

In addition, many fellowships are offered at Penn such as Spinal fellowship (Slipman’s Fellowship), Musculoskeletal Interventional fellowship, Stroke fellowship and Cancer fellowship. As a Penn resident, you have the chances to rotate at these fellowships during your electives and you can experience it and see if it’s the right field for you. In addition, our current and past residents have successfully matched to Penn Anesthesia Pain Management Fellowship, Albert Einstein Anesthesia Pain fellowship, Jefferson Anesthesia Pain, Pediatric Rehab at Hopkins, musculoskeletal spinal interventional fellowship in Seattle, Musculoskeletal Spinal Interventional fellowship at Penn.

Penn is enriched with NIH funding, ranking #8. Each faculty has an ongoing research project. The residents are not limited to research within its own department and they can do research in different department as well as fellowship.

The most important part that I want to point out is that all these great changes have taken places since the past few years. Primarily, great effort was put in by the chairman, faculty staff and residents. The bonding among the residents is extremely supportive and helpful. It's a small program and I can not say anymore about these wonderful residents that I've been working with. The faculty staff and residents are continuing to work to strive the best for the program. I guarantee that you will continue to see more progress within the program. I have no doubts that Penn will definitely continue to strive upward and become one of the best PM&R programs in the nation.