On behalf of our faculty, trainees and staff, it is a great pleasure to welcome you to our two neurology residency programs — the Dell Seton Medical Center Program and the Ascension Seton Medical Center Program — at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. All years of training are equivalent between the two programs and use both sites.
This is an exciting time to enter the field of neurology. Our understanding of neurological illnesses is growing rapidly through discoveries in basic, translational and clinical neurosciences. Neurologists are at the leading edge of breakthrough technologies and therapeutic advances that are poised to improve outcomes in even the most devastating neurological diseases. It is also an exciting time to train at Dell Med. The school is an integral part of The University of Texas at Austin, a tier-one research university with outstanding research communities in natural sciences and engineering that have formed strong alliances in training and research with the Department of Neurology.
Our growing neurology faculty, currently over 100 members, offers a multitude of training and research opportunities. We have also expanded our neurology resident training to take advantage of the rapid growth of the medical school and its state-of-the-art teaching hospitals: Dell Seton Medical Center and Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin, which are major hubs for complex neurologic care in Central Texas. Both the Dell Seton program, with six residents per year, and the Ascension Seton program, with four residents per year, provide equivalent training and faculty expertise for all Dell Med neurology residents. The programs offer rich experiences spanning inpatient and outpatient diagnosis and care, including subspecialty rotations in stroke, epilepsy, neurocritical care and neurological complications of cardiovascular, spine, obstetric and gynecological disorders. The programs’ names refer to the two training sites of the residencies — at Dell Seton Medical Center or Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin. The residents have equivalent experiences between the two programs and use both sites. while the neurology PGY-2, 3 and 4 years are equivalent for the two programs and use both sites.
Our residency programs combine traditional clinical case analysis with experiences in new models of person-centered, multidisciplinary care. We strive to foster an open learning environment that encourages discussion and debate, with the personalized care of patients at the center of our efforts. All of our residents participate in quality improvement and patient safety projects. Additionally, all residents at Dell Med complete a Foundations in Care Transformation training, which emphasizes value-based care, quality improvement, health equity, leadership and other key competencies in health systems science. The foundational training is part of Dell Med’s signature graduate medical education curriculum, Advancing Care Transformation.
We aspire to graduate master clinicians who can translate advances in basic neurobiology to insights in patient care and who think of their hospital, clinic and community as laboratories for advancing health and health care delivery. We also feel it is important for residents to gain mastery in the art of teaching — not only to educate and mentor medical students and your co-residents, but also to strengthen the therapeutic alliance with your patients.
The Department of Neurology currently offers fellowships in neurophysiology, neuroimmunology and vascular neurology. These enhance our trainees’ learning and provide opportunities for further subspecialty training locally in Austin, a city with one of the fastest growing populations in the nation and an increasing need for neurological expertise.
Please feel free to contact us for further information or questions regarding our program.
Sincerely,
Kent Ellington, M.D.
Program Director
Dell Seton Medical Center Neurology Residency
Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin
Ethan Meltzer, M.D.
Program Director
Ascension Seton Medical Center Neurology Residency
Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin
David Paydarfar, M.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Neurology
Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin