Neurology Resident Clinician Researcher Program

Neurology Resident Clinician Researcher Program (NRCRP) is aimed to provide residents with necessary faculty mentorship, administrative guidance, and infrastructure and research facility in order for them to pursue rewarding clinical and basic neuroscience research during the period of residency. Just like other neurology residents, a research track resident will fulfill all required clinical obligations toward certification in neurology by the ABPN in the same four-year period of residency. However, parallel to his/her clinical training, the resident on research track will also develop scholarly neuroscience research and will utilize most elective months and other extra time toward the completion of the chosen clinical or bench research. NRCRP is an opportunity for a neurology resident to excel in an area of resident’s interest and to launch a rewarding academic career following the completion of the residency. A resident on research track in all likelihood will become a university-based academic neurologist after completing the neurology residency.

The entry into NRCRP is flexible in that one can join it at the start or switch to it after being in residency for few months to a year. Considerable planning and commitment is obviously required to bring the research to fruition during the otherwise busy period of neurology residency. Generally, a research track resident will have some prior research experience and will decide, in collaboration with faculty mentor, early in the residency period the line of clinical or bench neuroscience research (for faculty mentors, see list below). Not all research residents are expected to be PhDs. The research faculty mentor(s) will guide and the program director will monitor the progress of all research track residents during the years of their residency.

The core curriculum for residents in the NRCRP is identical to that of other neurology residents. The main differences in the NRCRP include additional, ongoing meetings with the program director and NRCRP program supervisor (Tanja Rundek, MD, PhD), invitation to the Miami Institute of Medical Discovery Foundations of Translational Science Bootcamp (usually in August), and participation in the Clinical and Translational Research Certificate Program, which involves 40 hours of lectures and research exercises over a six-month term (Tuesdays from 4-6 pm, January – May). NRCRP residents will also be encouraged to participate in the UM Office of Research Education & Training Opportunities. NRCRP residents will have their schedules created with these times in mind, and every effort will be made to not schedule call during these times.  Specific goals and objectives for this program are the same as the neurology residency program, with additional goals and objectives detailing those activities described above.

It is expected that a research track resident will become conversant in research techniques and will accumulate enough research data to put in some career development grant, such as NIH K08 award, by the end of the residency period. In case the resident requires extra months or a year time to complete the research grant submission, the program will try to provide this extra time under post-residency fellowship in the resident’s chosen area of research. Success in getting some career development award and future research potential will be the main criteria for appointing a research resident to the neurology faculty at the University of Miami, after completion of the residency training. 

For more information, please contact Violeta Maldonado at:

Tel (305) 243-3902

e-mail: vmaldona@med.miami.edu