Our East Carolina University PM&R Department faculty works with interested, intelligent, hard working and intellectually curious residents within a vibrant PM&R residency-training program using our outstanding set of rehabilitation facilities, with all of our inpatient rehabilitation done in the rehabilitation hospital at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. In addition, the majority of outpatient clinic are conducted within a 5 minute walk of the resident offices so our residents spend a majority of their time providing clinical care, not driving between hospitals and clinics.

Under our “roof” we are responsible for the rehabilitation needs of the 1.2 million people in a 29 county region of eastern North Carolina.Our Regional Rehabilitation Center is one of the five centers of excellence at University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina. Please take a video tour on the Regional Rehabilitation Center website. Our 75-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit is one of only eight rehabilitation facilities in the USA that have accreditation by the Committee on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) in 11 or more specialty areas. Our flagship hospital, Pitt County Memorial Hospital is a JCAHO accredited Level I Trauma center with approximately 730 beds, with a contiguous 120-bed cardiovascular hospital scheduled for completion in 2008.There are five other hospitals owned by University Health Systems. These hospitals provide improved care for the patients in Eastern North Carolina and funnel patients to our flagship hospital and our rehabilitation center, providing a varied clinical experience for our physicians. Our outpatient rehabilitation specialty clinics include Chronic Pain, Occupational Pain, General Rehabilitation, Amputee, Special Seating, Spasticity, Traumatic Brain Injury, Pediatric Rehabilitation, Spinal Cord Injury, Intrathecal Baclofen Pumps, Occupational Medicine, EMG/NCS and EMG/Botox Clinics. Initiatives launched in the Fall of 2007 include Integrated Wound Management, with hyperbaric treatment (Opened 2007). We are one of the few sites that have residents actively involved in the care of patients in a long-term acute care (LTAC) facility. The PM&R Department recently increased our academic PM&R physicians. We have multiple subspecialty certifications and great interest in clinical care, teaching, and scholarly activities (research). Several psychologists and physicians are adjunct faculty within the department. In addition, there are numerous physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, recreational therapists, psychologists, audiologists, case managers, dieticians, pastors and administrative support personnel. Our rehabilitation nursing staff is well trained, committed to quality patient care, exceptionally competent and committed to the education process.

The residency program within our Department of PM&R recently increased to fifteen resident positions available in the PG2 through PG4 years. We received full reaccreditation of the program in 2007 and we are the most established program in North Carolina. The residency is available as either a three or four-year program. In the four-year program the residents complete their PG1 year at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, our Level I trauma center. Counting our current interns we have 19 residents over 4 years of training. We have plans for adding a fellowship in pain medicine and currently have the opportunity for residents to pursue an MPH degree offered within the school of medicine. We demand clinical excellence of our residents and ourselves. Teaching of medical students/residents and research activity by staff, residents, and clinical personnel are recognized as our other two top priorities and are strongly encouraged and supported. Over the past three years we have seen a rapid growth in the quality and amount of research output by our residents, as well as our staff, and I expect it to continue. The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University has an excellent medical library with superb computer facilities available for PM&R residents. PM&R residents are provided with, and participate in, a comprehensive didactic lecture program 4 to 5 hours per week, with CME certified PMR and Pain grand rounds. Our residents are required to experience clinical, research, leadership and administrative activities to assist in preparing them for successful careers as PMR physicians in academic practice, fellowship programs and private settings.

In the residency match we consistently filled our available PGY-1 and PGY-2 positions and we have an excellent pass rate on written boards. In 2007 one of our residents achieved the highest score in the nation on the EMG Self Assessment Exam. We look forward to working with our new residents.