Program Overview - Outpatient Rotations
UW Rehabilitation Medicine sees a wide variety of patients in outpatient clinics across the Madison area. Residents participate fully in patient evaluation and treatment. Close collaboration among members of the working team enables the resident to learn the skills and expertise of other disciplines while expanding medical knowledge and skills.
General Rehabilitation
Residents acquire knowledge and familiarity with a wide variety of common chronic disorders, their functional consequences, and strategies for prevention and treatment. Patients seen in the General Rehabilitation Clinics include those with spinal cord injuries, strokes, traumatic brain injuries, arthritis, amputation, neurological or neuromuscular disorders. Residents also rotate in specialty clinics including Geriatrics, Falls Prevention, Osteoporosis, Rheumatology, Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, and Post-Polio Rehabilitation.
Community experiences are also included in rotations, including prosthetics and orthotics development and fittings, performing arts and dance medicine, National Seating and Mobility wheelchair fitting, and sheltered workshop observation. There is dedicated time to work with physical, occupational, and speech therapists, with both adults and pediatric patients, in multiple rotations.
Electrodiagnostics (EMG)
Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCS) are vital tools for the diagnosis of neurological and neuromuscular disorders. Residents are trained by attending neurologists and physiatrists in the University of Wisconsin’s EMG Laboratory. Upon completion of the rotation, residents are able to design, carry out and interpret complete and appropriate electrodiagnostic examinations. PMR program requirements state that residents participate in at least 200 EMG studies before the end of residency. Residents typically complete sufficient numbers of cases to meet the requirements of the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine (ABEM) and the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (ABPMR). In addition to the dedicated EMG rotation, there is also EMG experience included in the consult, pain, musculoskeletal, and community rehabilitation rotations.
Pain Rehabilitation
Residents in the Pain rotation learn the skills necessary to manage patients with chronic (persistent) pain, as well as a working knowledge base for managing acute and cancer pain.
Residents learn to interview, diagnose, and plan treatment for patients with a broad range of painful disorders. Assessment and treatment are conducted by an interdisciplinary team including nurses, physical therapists and health psychologists. Residents learn the appropriate use of pharmacologic, behavioral, and rehabilitative techniques in pain management. Residents are instructed in the appropriate use and performance of both office-based and fluoroscopically-guided injection procedures for pain diagnosis and treatment. Additional experience in electrodiagnostics is also included.
Community Rehabilitation
This rotation provides experiences in multiple community rehabilitation settings, plus additional time in EMG and the Pain Clinic. Community experiences include weekly musculoskeletal/spine clinic at the VA Hospital, plus brief rotations elsewhere. These may include subacute rehabilitation consultation visits at Clearview Brain Injury Center, driving performance evaluations at Meriter Hospital, rehabilitative home care visits, and primary care visits with the disabled through the Community Living Alliance.
Musculoskeletal/Spine/Orthopedics
This rotation focuses on musculoskeletal evaluation, injury management, and orthopedic rehabilitation. Residents work with orthopedic surgery faculty as well as rehabilitation medicine faculty in Sports Medicine Clinic and Spine Clinic. Residents also spend time with the musculoskeletal radiologists during this rotation reading radiographs, CT, and MRI. There are opportunities to work sporting events or work with athletic trainers at local high schools to get more experience in acute injury management. EMG experience is included in this rotation as well.
• Overview
Rehabilitation UW Department of Orthopedics
and Rehabilitation
First published: 12/25/02 Last updated: 11/24/09 webmaster@ortho.wisc.edu
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