The Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation welcomes 4th year medical students of LCME or American Osteopathic Association (AOA) accredited medical schools for four-week elective rotations at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital.

Visiting medical students are required to apply through the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO). Applications open in the beginning of May, and are reviewed shortly thereafter with decisions by mid/late May for the upcoming academic year. Our elective is MDE 8580 - Intro. to PM&R.

Note: It can be found under the “Neurology” Specialty under the “USF-Morsani” Institution.

For more information, visit the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine's Visiting Students page.

USF 4th year medical students register through the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Registrar’s Office. To add or drop an elective, please visit the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine's Fourth Year Drop/Add web application.

For any questions regarding grades or copies of your evaluation forms, please contact:

Shereena Farrington
Program Administrator
Department of Neurology
sfarring@usf.edu
(813) 974-4142

If accepted for a rotation through VSLO, the program will reach out to you prior to the rotation with further details including locations, starting times, and contact information 

This elective will provide the medical student with a broad and comprehensive educational experience in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. There will be instruction in the evaluation and rehabilitation of a wide range of medical disability conditions including musculoskeletal problems, head injuries, spinal cord injuries, strokes, amputees, chronic pain, geriatrics, and cardiac rehabilitation. In addition, students will be exposed to physical, occupational, speech, audiology, vocational, recreational, and kinesiological therapies. There will be instruction in functional assessments of all types of physical disabilities and in the diagnostic use of electromyography for muscle and neurological disorders. These patients will then be reviewed in detail by the attending physician and appropriate examination techniques, diagnostic problem-solving methods and treatment plans will be discussed with the student. The student will also participate in weekly PM&R lectures. Overall, the educational experience will offer a practical approach to those patients with disabilities. This will benefit all medical students regardless of their primary area of interest.

Evaluation will be based on attendance and demonstration that the educational objectives have been met. An honors grade requires the student to do a case presentation at a weekly conference.

Objectives:

• Enable the student to become skilled in functional evaluation and anatomic correlation of pain and motion problems.
• Gain experience in the care of rehabilitation problems.
• Gain insight into the diagnosis of acute pain problems.
• Recognize a conservative treatment model for acute pain problems.
• To acquire experience in the management of patients with traumatic brain injury.
• To understand the role of the rehabilitation team in the management of patients with TBI.
• To gain experience in the neurologic examination of patients with motor and cognitive deficits.
• To acquire experience in the management of patients with Spinal Cord Injury.
• To understand the role of the rehabilitation team in the management of SCI.
• To gain experience with the neurologic examination of patients with SCI.