Flexible Residency
Providing the opportunity to launch an academic career
Flexible Residency: Laboratory Research
UCSF residents have a high success rate in receiving UE5 funding and later K08 or K23 career development grants after residency.
Flexible Residency: Clinical Research
Our goal is to give any resident the opportunity to explore clinical research to decide whether it is right for their career, whether they have a background in it or not.
Flexible Residency: Global Health
Residents choosing this track have spent up to four months in their R4 years in China, Zambia, Haiti, and Peru.
Flexible Residency: Master Clinician
A dedicated curriculum focused on clinical decision-making and promoting lifelong learning skills with a capstone project.
Flexible Residency: Medical Education
A mentored curriculum development project leveraging abundant resources in education scholarship and professional development in the School of Medicine.
Flexible Residency: Health Equity
Supports projects researching or addressing health care disparities and improving the health of communities we serve.

We offer a Flexible Neurology Residency Program ("FlexRes") with areas of concentration in laboratory research, clinical research, medical education, master clinician, health equity, or global health. The flexible residency allows adult neurology and child neurology residents to dedicate up to six months during their R4 year to research or other scholarly pursuits, which can provide an excellent stepping-stone to potential research fellowships after residency and establishing a thriving career in academic neurology or neuroscience. UCSF participates in the NINDS-sponsored UE5 program and our residents have a high success rate of being awarded these laboratory research training grants. A separate endowment, the Shupin fund, enables residents who do not receive an UE5 and those with an interest in clinical research, or other scholarly interests, to also have 6 months in the R4 year to pursue a project germane to their career interests. This training has prepared residents to successfully apply for K08 or K23 grants early in their academic career. Residents begin to apply for the Flexible Neurology Residency during their R2 year of training through a mentored process that ensures successful projects. Funding is available for all eligible residents to participate.

Intradepartmental clinical and laboratory research committees assist residents in developing clinical or laboratory research projects with a focus on training resident to preform research including selection of a mentor, research project, and developing a fundable research application. Physician-educator, master clinician, health equity, and global health tracks all have academic physician champions to provide guidance in project development. As part of a Global Health flexible residency experience, residents will be able to leverage the wealth of resources available through the UCSF global health community, including the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences.

Research symposia and other research opportunities

Residents can connect with internationally acclaimed leaders in neurology and neuroscience who are invited to UCSF to speak and meet with residents at our annual major lectureships. These include the Aird and Berg lectureships in the Fall, and the Fishman symposium in the Spring, which includes a neurology resident poster session. We also host an invited lectureship for health equity each Spring, and the department’s divisions host a wide range of visiting scholars each year.

There are ample opportunities for residents to participate in research even if they do not choose the flexible residency option. Our approachable faculty are happy to partner with and mentor residents regardless of prior research experience, and residents can use a portion of elective time for research. Whether it is a case report or research project, all residents present an academic poster at the Fishman symposium at least once during training.

Research courses and UCSF Graduate Medical Education Pathways

Neurology residents often take advantage of research training and career development offered through other UCSF departments and initiatives.  For example, UCSF’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics offers a one-month Designing Clinical Research course for residents, which can be built into the R4 schedule. The UCSF Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME) offers training pathways in Global Health, Health Professions Education, Clinical Informatics and Data Science, Health Equity, Health Systems Leadership, and Clinical Research, each of which consist of coursework that leverages the resources available at UCSF beyond the Neurology Department. It is not necessary for residents to choose the flexible residency option to participate in a GME Pathway. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Department of Neurology Research

Weill Institute for Neurosciences