Resident Eligibility and Selection Process

The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (UWHC) and its affiliates are committed to provide a training program for Residents that meets all requirements for programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

The University of Wisconsin Department of Neurology seeks well-rounded candidates with a track record of academic success and great potential for the future.  Desirable attributes include strong intellectual abilities as documented by success in past academic performance, sincere interest in a career in child neurology, and excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

To be considered, applicants must at minimum meet all requirements imposed by the UW Health Graduate Medical Education Department (UW Health GME) for credentialing and appointment. These requirements can be found in UW Health GME policies Resident and Fellow Credentialing and Conditions of Appointment and Recruitment and Selection of Residents and Fellows. Briefly, to begin employment at UW Health in a GME program, candidates must:

• Have graduated from one of the following types of medical school:
  • A U.S. or Canadian allopathic medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)
  • A U.S. osteopathic medical school accredited by the American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA)
  • A non-U.S. or Canadian schools accredited by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)

• Pass USMLE Steps 1 and 2 or COMLEX Levels 1 and 2.
• Be or become eligible for employment in the United States in one of the following ways:
  • S. citizenship
  • Permanent residency status (i.e., green card)
  • J-1 visa sponsored by the ECFMG
  • Employment Authorization Document

Please note that UW Health does not sponsor H1-B or other H-1 category temporary worker visas and does not accept the F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT) visa. For more information, please see UW Health GME Non-Citizen Eligibility Requirements.

Applications to our program are only accepted via ERAS.  All applications are reviewed in their entirety by the Recruitment Committee, who will objectively rate each application using holistic review with regard to: academic performance in medical school, performance on USMLE or COMLEX, interpersonal communication (personal statement, etc.), extracurricular activities, research accomplishments, and letters of recommendation.  This serves as a screening process; the most highly rated applicants are invited for interviews. Applicants accepted for interview will also be interviewed by the Department of Pediatrics.  The program director for Pediatrics will communicate to the program director of Child Neurology which candidates are acceptable to Pediatrics.

The final rank list is created in a multi-step process. A preliminary ranking is completed by the program director after review of the resident and interview evaluations. The Recruitment Committee will then have a closed-door discussion to create the final rank list by consensus.

All candidates must meet the UWHC “Qualifications for Appointment,” and attest to this by signing an agreement form provided by GME office.

Applications to our program are only accepted via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Our ACGME ID# is 1855618109 and the NRMP program code is 1779185C0.  Applicants applying for a categorical position (full 5 year training program) need only to apply for this position (do not need to separately apply for a preliminary Pediatrics residency position).

All applications are reviewed by the Recruitment Committee, which will evaluate each application with regard to the following:

• Academic transcript
• Medical Student Performance Evaluation (Dean’s letter—once available)
• Letters of recommendation
• Selected experiences
• Personal statement
• USMLE (at minimum, step 1) or COMLEX-USA (at minimum, level 1) scores

Per the guidance of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), interviews are held virtually. Our virtual interview day will begin with program overviews of both the child neurology and pediatrics programs. Afterwards, candidates will meet with pediatric faculty in the morning. The lunch break will include an opportunity to meet with residents from both the child and adult neurology programs. The interview day will conclude with interviews with the child neurology faculty. There will be an optional opportunity to attend an evening reception with the UW pediatric program. Attendance will not be recorded at these optional receptions; they are for candidates to learn more about the pediatric program at UW.

Our program is committed to providing applicants with a fair and transparent application/interview process. As such, we strictly adhere to all NRMP requirements including those pertinent to post interview communication. Given the high stakes nature of choosing a residency program, genuine questions from applicants often arise and communication is sometimes necessary.  To ensure fairness, our program, the program director and recruitment faculty abide by the following guidance;

• We seek to minimize the possibility of misleading communication by limiting our correspondence to the exchange of objective information.
• No post interview communication is expected from applicants.
• We ask that any programmatic questions be directed to the program coordinator who can assist in answering questions or direct the applicant to the best information source.
• To further safeguard our ethical standards, the program coordinator will log all post-interview communications.