The Adult Neurology Residency includes these rotations:

Rotations at other Mayo Clinic campuses

As part of your adult neurology training, you may spend two to four months on rotations at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, and Jacksonville, Florida. These rotations offer a unique opportunity to work in a smaller group practice that integrates clinical neurology, neurophysiology, imaging, and a variety of neurological subspecialties. 

Mayo Clinic funds the authorized additional costs of travel, housing, car rental, and licensure fees, as well as travel expenses and lodging for you and your family. Our residents consistently rate these rotations very highly.

Rotation descriptions

Adult neurology inpatient services

During your inpatient assignments, you learn to evaluate and treat neurological emergencies in the emergency department at Mayo Clinic Hospital — Rochester, Saint Marys Campus. You evaluate a wide variety of neurological disorders in the inpatient setting and participate in teaching rounds each day in the hospital. 

The Neurology Critical Care Service has admitting privileges to the shared Neurology/Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit. Any patient with an acute, critical neurological disorder is admitted by this service and managed primarily by a team of residents and an attending neurologist. The Neurology Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease Service manages patients with stroke, TIA, intracranial hemorrhage, and other cerebrovascular disorders. The General Neurology Service evaluates and manages a wide range of neurological disorders requiring inpatient care.

As a PGY-2 resident, you spend up to three two-week periods as the night emergency neurology junior resident (colloquially called the ninja) caring for patients on one of the non-ICU inpatient services and in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, as well as seeing patients in the emergency room in conjunction with a PGY-4 resident, according to a night-float model. 

Adult neurology outpatient services

In the outpatient clinic, you evaluate patients with both common and unusual neurological conditions and participate in daily teaching case discussions. For one month during each of the PGY-2 and PGY-4 years, you work in the outpatient clinic with staff consultants in the Section of Education, who have been chosen specifically because of their expertise in neurological education.

Subspecialty clinics

There are several outpatient clinics within the Department of Neurology that focus on subspecialty areas of neurology. All residents have required rotations in the movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and neuromuscular clinics. 

Additional time may be spent in these clinics, or elective time can be spent in any of more than 15 other subspecialty clinics.

Continuity clinic

You attend an adult outpatient continuity clinic for one half-day each week for all three years of neurology residency. You develop experience in the long-term management of patients who require ongoing care for common and uncommon neurological disorders.

In the PGY-3 and PGY-4 years, you have the option to spend a portion of your continuity clinic time at outreach sites in smaller regional communities or at the Federal Medical Center, Rochester, Minnesota. 

Child and adolescent neurology

Your child and adolescent neurology assignments are divided between outpatient clinic and hospital consult services for one month each during the PGY-2 year, PGY-3 year, and PGY-4 year.

You gain experience in dealing with acute and outpatient pediatric problems. You learn the appropriate evaluation of neonatal, infant, child, and adolescent patients with neurological problems. You also learn from experienced child epileptologists in the pediatric epilepsy monitoring unit. 

Clinical neurophysiology

During the PGY-3 year, you spend two months in a clinical neurophysiology rotation. This assignment includes didactic instruction and practical experience in the basics of:

• Autonomic function testing
• Electroencephalography (EEG)
• Electromyography (EMG)
• Evoked potentials
• Nerve conduction studies
• Polysomnography 

After completing the core clinical neurophysiology rotation, you can spend two or four additional elective months in EMG, or one to four months in EEG or sleep medicine.

Neuropathology

You spend two months training in neuropathology during the PGY-3 year. This rotation gives you direct experience with autopsy material under the direction of a full-time neuropathologist. Your training also includes case reviews, brain cutting, and microscopy. 

Neuroradiology

Throughout your residency, you receive regular didactic and clinical instruction in neuroradiology. You can gain additional experience by using elective time to interpret imaging studies with Mayo's team of more than 35 neuroradiologists or observe interventional neuroradiologic procedures.