For Health Professionals

Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Residency Program

Ira Bergman, MD, PhD
Chief, Division of
Child Neurology

Miya Asato, MD
Program Director,
Neurodevelopmental
Disabilities Residency
Program
Associate Director,
Child Neurology
Residency Program

Patricia Crumrine, MD
Program Director,
Child Neurology
Residency Program

Dear Candidate in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Residency,

As one of only eight programs in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (NDD) training available in the United States, we hope that you will have the opportunity to learn more about Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the academic community at the University of Pittsburgh. We are pleased to offer our six-year joint program with the residency program in the Department of Pediatrics. NDD Training: The Basics is available at www.nddtraining.org.

Our accredited NDD program was started in 2002 by Dr. Michael Painter. The division and hospital have a long tradition of training physicians, making Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC an excellent site for NDD training. Our program has several main themes that will provide you with the educational and clinical training necessary for you to become part of a growing medical specialty aimed to treat children with a holistic perspective.

The NDD program is closely linked to the Division of Child Neurology, Developmental Medicine, and the Program for the Study of Neurodevelopment in Rare Disorders at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. These linkages provide a large number of clinical training sites, specialized services in both hospital and outpatient settings, and affords a large and diverse faculty. Clinical training is six years and provides exposure to a wide variety of clinical disciplines as well as exposure to developmental neuroscience and research through a mentored scholarly project. See a sample training rotation schedule here.

Clinical breadth: Across the lifespan

Clinical training at Children's and UPMC offers broad and diverse exposure in multiple settings. Continuity clinic exposure varies from community-based general pediatrics during pediatrics residency years to longitudinal developmental disabilities clinic throughout NDD training through:

Continuity clinics during the last three years are dedicated to clinics in child development and neurology. These clinics are tailored to the resident’s interests. Residents also have the opportunity to participate in community based clinics such as Children’s Salud para ninos clinic offering specialty care under supervision of NDD faculty.

Pediatrics residency (2 years)
Neurology residency (1 year)
Child neurology residency training (18 months)
Neurodevelopmental residency training with a primary focus on research or specialized clinical activities during 11 months (18 months)

Training in patient advocacy

As an NDD physician, your career will focus on meeting the diverse medical, psychosocial, and educational needs of your patients. In addition to excellent training in subspecialty medicine, you will receive training and education in:

Bioethics
Palliative medicine and pain management
Public health and policy issues pertaining to patients with chronic and disabling conditions

These educational components include experiences in the LEND Program of Pittsburgh, funded by the Health and Resources Services Administration, and opportunities at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. An important component of the NDD training program is a community-based involvement in a patient advocacy group or government agency. This will enable you to better understand patient and family needs and public health concerns.

Research

Exposure and mentored experiences in research is an integral component of the NDD program. This will be tailored to each resident. Research training begins during the first year of neurology training, can be continued during elective time in years 2 and 3, and can be pursued intensively in year 4. There are numerous academic and research opportunities available at the University of Pittsburgh.

Each resident will complete a scholarly project, and presentation at national meetings and preparation of manuscripts for publication are encouraged. The project can be clinical or laboratory-based. Each resident is paired with a research faculty mentor during the first year of the program, and the mentor will assist the resident in developing a project that can be completed during the residency program.

Last Update
August 21, 2012

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