Letter from the Chief Residents
Welcome to the University of Washington (UW) Neurology Residency Program! We are excited that you are interested in learning more about our program and the unique training it offers. The UW Neurology Residency trains highly skilled and compassionate neurologists who go on to care for patients in all clinical environments. With access to world-class specialty experts and approachable faculty, we are able to develop our own unique passions within Neurology. Our learners come from all walks of life and consistently matriculate to competitive fellowships and positions after graduation.
Clinical Training and Career Development
The strength of the training offered at UW Neurology stems from the breadth of clinical experiences and the depth of the expert knowledge offered by UW faculty. We train in four unique hospital systems throughout Seattle, each with their own distinct aspects. As our county hospital and the region’s first Comprehensive Stroke Center, Harborview Medical Center (HMC) houses a multidisciplinary Neurocritical Care ICU and is the only Level 1 trauma center in Washington state. HMC is also home to our regional Level 4 Epilepsy Center, including an epilepsy monitoring unit. The University of Washington Medical Center Montlake campus is a premier academic institution and tertiary referral center. It is a major hub for patients with cancer, advanced cardiac pathologies, transplants, and rare conditions. The Puget Sound Veterans’ Association is where we learn bread and butter neurology, and the primary site for our exposure to Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Finally, Seattle Children’s is the best pediatric hospital in the Pacific Northwest and home to the only Level 4 Pediatric Epilepsy Center in the region. The catchment area for each of these hospitals spans from Alaska to Montana, providing a high-volume of diverse patient backgrounds.
Our education is made complete at general and subspecialty neurology clinics. With the recent switch to an X+Y continuity clinic model, we work with patients of varied pathologies at all three of our adult hospital clinics. Our expert faculty that supports us in clinic come from all neurological specialties including vascular neurology, neuroinfectious disease, neuro-immunology, epilepsy, neuromuscular, autonomic neurology, movement disorders, neurogenetics, behavioral neurology, neuro-oncology, neurocritical care, and neuropalliative care. We have specialty training available at a broad array of clinics including the MS Center, Alvord Brain Tumor Center, Headache Clinic, Memory and Brain Wellness Center, Movement Disorder Clinic, Stroke Clinic, and Epilepsy Clinic. Interdisciplinary conferences occur daily, including tumor board, surgical and non-surgical epilepsy conference, neuroimmunology board, and stroke conference which supplement our scheduled didactics. With graduated responsibility and independence as we progress through our training, we become highly confident and competent neurologists ready to go into clinical practice in any setting.
Life in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest (PNW)
Living in the Pacific Northwest provides the best of city life and access to top-notch nature and wilderness. There’s a neighborhood for every personality, from Capitol Hill and its vibrant night life to Columbia City with its diverse food and culture to Fremont and its quirks (think giant stone troll under the bridge and an annual nude bike parade). For residents with families, there are also many neighborhoods within the city that provide a laid-back suburban feel with large yards and greenery. And no matter where you go, the views of nature – whether of Mt. Rainier (aka “The Mountain”), of the Puget Sound or city lakes, or of the year-round greenery of the numerous city parks – are always superb. It’s called Emerald City for a reason. There’s never a shortage of things to do in the region, with trails and bike paths, delicious and diverse restaurants, world-class museums and galleries, a thriving live music scene, quirky festivals, creative microbreweries, distilleries, and wineries, endless pet-friendly activities, six professional sports teams, every outdoor winter and summer sport imaginable, a strong rock climbing (indoor and outdoor) community, and your pick of cozy coffee shops (naturally). The Pacific Northwest is an amazing place to live and work. We promise that here you will never be lacking in things to do or people to do them with, rain or shine.
Now, please allow our adventurous PGY-4, Adam, to demonstrate his escapades around Seattle and the PNW (photo cred goes to Adam’s fantastic co-residents):
Adam at the Seattle Aquarium with the native puffins (top left), Adam at Golden Gardens Beach with coresidents near Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood (top right), Adam at Mount St. Helens (bottom left), Adam at the Chihuly museum of glass in downtown (bottom right)
Most Importantly, Who Are We?
Now you know what PGY-4 Adam likes to do, but in general, it turns out the rest of our residents also love to have fun and explore. Overall, we are a varied, tight-knit group. Our ages range from 25 to 35. We speak English, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, Aramaic, Polish, Russian, and Mandarin. Some of us are in long-term partnerships and marriages, and some of us are single, and you’d never know which is which. We have lived prior lives in research, education, the corporate grind, forever student hood, and bio manufacturing. Some of our talents include eating three Carmelo’s burritos in one sitting (see photo 1 for reference – only one burrito pictured), yapping while sipping local brews, deep sleeping (though never through stroke alerts), clapping with one hand, and running down mountains without a shirt or shoes (and bumping into each other while doing so). Our children encompass many different species, from turtles to birds to many cats to humans. In fact, in the last three years, we have produced seven new humans. We love to get together, both at work and outside of work, in groups large and small. Over the last couple of years, we have thrown glowing Valentine’s day parties, partaken in spooky seances, spelunked in underground caves (but no histoplasmosis here!), spent the night in a treehouse (looking at you class of 2027), rock climbed in the Cascades, fought in a virtual zombie apocalypse, cheered for our city’s home sports teams, and more. You should know that this section of this letter was a team effort with real-time input from our very active group chat.
Now for some low-quality photos of high-quality times with high-quality colleagues and a Carmelo’s burrito for reference:
In order – Carmelo’s burrito, Ape Caves, Jerry the tuning fork, retreat at Pike Place brewery, Lily descending into the lava tubes on a camping trip with co-residents, Rina and Azza at our annual Halloween party, class of 2027 having a bonfire on a treehouse weekend getaway, UW inpatient team enjoying a sunny lunch break, neuro department at a Seattle Sounder’s game, local blueberry picking, delivering New Years’ pick-me-ups to those working the holiday, Valentine’s rooftop party, N2s on one of the famous Washington ferries, holiday lights maze, intern welcome picnic at Gasworks park, rock climbing at Exit 38
We are so excited to share our beautiful program with you and look forward to getting to know you all this application cycle!
Sincerely,
UW Neurology Chiefs (Aaron Gallagher, Mack Paller-Moore, Lily Filipowska)
