Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residency:
Frequently Asked Questions

• Which Hospitals and Training Centers are included in the residency program?
• What are my options for completing PGY-1 year in the Seattle area?
• What is it like to live in Seattle and the Northwest?
• How can I apply as a Visiting Medical Student?

Which Hospitals and Training Centers are included in the residency program?

• The University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) is a tertiary care university hospital. PM&R resident rotations include inpatient care, consultations, electrodiagnosis, and outpatient clinics, including general rehabilitation clinics and specialty clinics for conditions such as muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, post-polio, spinal cord injury, brain injury, rheumatology, orthopaedics, spinal problems, and pain. (Total beds: 385, PM&R: 20)
• Harborview Medical Center (HMC) is a county-owned institution managed by the University of Washington that houses the region's only Level 1 trauma and burn centers. PM&R resident rotations include inpatients, outpatient consultations, electrodiagnosis, and outpatient clinics including spinal cord injury, brain injury, sports medicine, and orthopaedic clinics. (Total beds: 313, PM&R: 26)
• The Seattle Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC): The Resident rotations include inpatient care, spinal cord injury care, electrodiagnosis, and outpatient clinics including musculoskeletal medicine, prosthetics, and multiple sclerosis. (Total beds: 488, PM&R: 12 to 16, Spinal Cord Injury Service: 34)
• Seattle Children's is the only tertiary care pediatric facility in the Northwest. Specialized rehabilitation medicine programs focus on traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, limb deficiency, and other congenital and acquired disabilities. (Total beds: 200, PM&R: 12)
• Musculoskeletal Training: A variety of outpatient experiences provide training in management of musculoskeletal conditions. The musculoskeletal care rotation is a 2-month rotation of outpatient clinics in rheumatology, spine, pain, orthopaedics, physical medicine, physiatric injections, and sports medicine. There are also musculoskeletal clinics as part of outpatient rotations at UWMC and the VA. Residents may also choose the pain service, a month-long rotation with exposure to structured treatment of chronic pain as well as outpatient evaluation of acute and chronic pain conditions. There are monthly musculoskeletal and radiology conferences as well as intense training in functional anatomy and physical modalities. Residents also attend two special seminars: orthopaedic boot camp with entering orthopaedic residents, and a cadaver injection workshop with internal medicine residents.
• Electrodiagnostic Training: Residents easily meet the requirements of 200 electrodiagnostic exams during residency training. They have the opportunity to do EMGs at all the hospitals, including somatosensory evoked potentials and intra operative monitoring. There are extensive didactics in EMG and case conferences at the hospitals as well.

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What are my options for completing PGY-1 year in the Seattle area?

• Apply and Match to our categorical position, and you will do your PGY 1-4 years as a UW Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation resident beginning in June of the same year.
• Apply and Match to our advanced position and begin as a PGY-2 in the following year, and also apply and match to one of the more local options for a PGY-1 year:
1. Virginia Mason Medical Center: Several of our residents have done their PGY-1 year at Virginia Mason and they offer both transitional year training as well as an Internal Medicine preliminary year. For more information and application instructions, visit their website
2. A Preliminary year in the Medicine Residency Program at the University of Washington: You will need to apply and interview for this position separately from our program. For more information, visit their website
3. A Surgical year in the Surgery Residency Program at the University of Washington: While most of our residents do their PGY-1 in a Medicine program, the American Board of PM&R also accepts a PGY-1 year in surgery, and the Surgery Residency Program at the UW recently began offering PGY-1 preliminary general surgery positions. You will need to apply and interview for a position in their program separately from our program. For more information, contact their Residency Coordinator at 206-543-3687, or visit their website.
4. You can also apply and Match to our advanced position to begin as a PGY-2, and also match to another transitional or preliminary Medicine PGY-1 year at another institution outside of Seattle.

Please note that because we submit identical match lists for our categorical and our advanced tracks, you will need to rank BOTH if you want to potentially match to both. For example, if you only rank our categorical track, you will only be eligible for those three positions. If we fill those positions before the NRMP system reaches your name on our rank list, you will not be automatically considered for our advanced track. To be considered for both tracks, you need to rank both tracks in order of preference.

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What is it like to live in Seattle and the Northwest?

One of the greatest benefits of training at the University of Washington is the opportunity to live in a beautiful, safe, culturally diverse, and yes, often overcast, part of the country. The coffee, the salmon, and the quality of life can't be topped anywhere else! Follow the link for more information on what the Northwest has to offer.

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How can I apply as a Visiting Medical Student?

The Department of Rehabilitation Medicine offers a four-week clerkship to fourth year visiting medical students interested in Rehabilitation Medicine. Follow the link for more information on the fourth year clerkship.

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To learn more about the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation residency program, please explore the links below:

• About the Program
• Letter from the Chiefs
• Diversity & Equal Opportunity
• Accreditation
• Applying to the Residency Program
• Eligibility Requirements
• Selection Process
• Academic Curriculum
• Stipends & Benefits
• Current Residents
• Visting Student Clerkship Opportunities
• Living in Seattle
• Residency Contact Information