​Neurology Residency Program at UPMC Hamot

A message from the program director, Jeffrey J. Esper, DO.

Welcome to UPMC Hamot's Neurology Residency Program!

This ACGME-accredited residency program offers a well-rounded neurological education with experience in a variety of subspecialties. Physicians who choose UPMC Hamot for their neurology residency are exposed to a wide variety of pathologies and patients.

The rotation experience provides access to inpatient and outpatient care for patients of all ages and including:

• Neurology inpatient service
• Neurology outpatient clinic
• Internal Medicine
• Electrodiagnostic medicine
• Pediatric neurology 
• Neuroradiology
• Neurosurgery
• Psychiatry
• Neuropathology
• Critical Care
• Emergency medicine
• Elective rotations

The training and experience of our faculty will provide you with access to expertise in a variety of neurology specialties with board certifications in epilepsy, sleep, acupuncture, electromyography, and neurorehabilitation.

Residents are given increased responsibility as they progress through the program and are given opportunities to participate in procedures such as:

• Lumbar punctures
• BOTOX^® and MYOBLOC^® injections
• Carotid and intracranial Doppler testing
• Baclofen pump
• Deep brain stimulator adjustments

Residents are involved in specialty clinics for movement disorders, epilepsy, muscular dystrophies, and multiple sclerosis. Office management, coding, and billing concepts are learned and applied throughout the program.

UPMC Hamot's neurology residents also benefit from experiences with UPMC Hamot's Stroke Team. UPMC Hamot became the first health care provider in the Erie region to receive the Joint Commission's Certification of Distinction for Primary Stroke Centers — a recognition of the technology, neurological expertise, and speed of care provided at UPMC Hamot.

Additionally, UPMC Hamot has received distinction for clinical excellence as well as stroke care. Numerous awards for stroke care outcomes have been received including those from the American Heart Association, American Stroke Association, Highmark Quality Blue and Amerinet. In 2016, UPMC Hamot was approved by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association for the Get With The Guidelines^® - Stroke Gold Plus award. The hospital also qualified for recognition through Target: Stroke Elite. Both of these awards are designed to help hospitals make sure patients get the benefits of the latest scientific guidelines-based treatment.

After four years of integrated internship and residency, graduates are prepared to go directly into practice. Graduates will have the experience required to perform and interpret EMG and EEG tests proficiently without obtaining further training in a fellowship.

If graduates aspire to further their education through fellowship training, UPMC Hamot's residency program will ensure preparation for a variety of specialty fellowships, such as MS, neuromuscular, epilepsy, movement disorders, stroke, and neuroimaging. All of our residents who have pursued fellowships have been accepted into programs of their choice.

Thank you for considering UPMC Hamot for your residency. If any of your questions are not answered by this website, please contact Angela Mulligan, GME senior department manager, at gibsonec@upmc.edu or by calling 814-877-4178.