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Letter from the Chairman

Dear Prospective Physiatrist:

Thank you for your interest in the Case Western Reserve University/MetroHealth Medical Center Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) Residency Training Program, in Cleveland, Ohio. We feature a dynamic 20 resident training program with a faculty of more than 25 board-certified physiatrists and rehabilitation psychologists.  We also provide a one year Spinal Cord Injury Medicine Fellowship which is ACGME-accredited.

As the sole Level One Trauma and Burn Center for all of Northeastern Ohio, MetroHealth Medical Center treats a large volume of trauma cases. The MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute of Ohio (MRIO) was recognized by the 2008 US News & World Report "Best Hospitals" survey as being one of  the Top 30 Rehabilitation Facilities (out of 1250 facilities nationally).  MRIO is one of only 14 Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Model Systems in the country, designated by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), in recognition of our state-of-the-art spinal cord injury care and cutting-edge clinical research.  MRIO is multiply accredited by CARF (the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities), and features 68 inpatient rehabilitation beds with distinct, specialized units for spinal cord injury, brain injury and stroke rehabilitation. Our extensive outpatient rehabilitation programs are based on-site in the 25,000 square foot Rehabilitation Pavilion and at several community-based satellites. Specialty clinics include amputee care, spasticity management (including Botox and intrathecal baclofen), electrodiagnosis, neuromuscular development, lymphedema care, industrial rehabilitation (with Work Hardening) and musculoskeletal care (including interventional spine procedures). In addition to disability-specific follow-up clinics, there are weekly continuity clinics for PG3 and PG4 residents. While the majority of time is spent on-site at MetroHealth, PM&R residents also rotate to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital for Rehabilitation, and the Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC). Residents have multiple options for their two months of elective rotations as well.

Our residency program, founded in 1958, was most recently re-accredited by the PM&R Residency Review Committee (RRC) of the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for a full five years (through 2011). Our graduates perform well on the Board Certification exams (rolling five year first-time taker pass rates of 100% for Part I and 82% for Part II), and are consistently successful in securing fellowship slots or practice opportunities in both private and academic settings.

The MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute of Ohio provides a unique training environment that couples advanced clinical rehabilitative care and research with a mission of providing state of the art care to all individuals regardless of their ability to pay. The Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation is committed to providing an excellent educational experience for our residents. Our faculty hold full-time appointments at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and enjoy teaching.  Resident rotations feature one-to-one faculty to resident interaction to maximize educational opportunities. Many of our faculty are active regionally, nationally and even internationally with presentations and organizational contributions. Our Department is actively engaged in a range of clinical research activities, including the internationally-renowned Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center, which is based at MetroHealth.

MetroHealth offers a competitive salary and benefits package for house staff (including health care coverage for dependents, and disability insurance). In addition, the Department of PM&R pays for resident membership in the American Academy of PM&R (with subscription to their journal: PM&R - The Journal of Injury, Function and Rehabilitation).  Incoming residents are provided with an educational fund for purchase of PM&R-related textbooks and/or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).  PG3 and PG4 residents receive a stipend for educational conference attendance.  Residents are required to complete a research project (with faculty mentorship and assistance), and are encouraged (and sponsored) to submit their work for presentation at a national scientific meeting with subsequent publication.

To provide maximum flexibility, we offer BOTH Categorical (PG-1 entry) and Advanced (PG-2 entry) positions via the match (ERAS).  We only accept candidate applications via ERAS, and typically conduct most of our candidate interviews in November and December each year.  This electronic brochure/website provides further details about our residency training program and MetroHealth Medical Center. You can obtain additional information about Case Western Reserve University at http://www.cwru.edu/, and about Cleveland in general by visiting www.cleveland.com.

I hope this information will be useful to you in your selection process to find the training program that best serves your interests.  If you have additional questions or special needs, please contact Mrs. Randa Karim, PM&R Residency Coordinator, at rkarim@metrohealth.org.

At CWRU/MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute of Ohio, we look forward to helping you prepare for an exciting career as a physiatrist!

Gary S. Clark, MD, MMM, CPE

Medical Director
MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute of Ohio

Residency Program Director, Professor, and Chair
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Cleveland, Ohio