Residency Overview

Over half a century ago, Charlotte Spastic Hospital was created to deliver care to the disabled and spastic population. By the 1990s, it had changed its name to become the nationally recognized Charlotte Institute of Rehabilitation. The residency program in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) welcomed its first set of residents in July 1992.

With modernization and growth, the institution took its current name of Carolinas Rehabilitation in January of 2006. At the same time, Dr. Vu Nguyen assumed leadership of the residency program from our inaugural residency director, Dr. William Bockenek. PM&R Faculty includes practitioners in both academic and private practice settings. This balanced approach provides our residents with a comprehensive knowledge base and a broad set of skills applicable to all facets of PM&R practice. PM&R program continues to flourish, having received the maximum number of years allowable (five) of ACGME accreditation for the last three accreditation cycles.

In January 2023, David Conlan Rehabilitation was inaugurated and officially replaced Carolinas Rehabilitation. Similarly, barely a year before the completion of this new rehabilitation building, the PM&R Residency Program leadership after 23 years also transitioned to Dr. Kelly Crawford. In addition to providing state-of-the-art tertiary rehabilitation care and innovative research, the department is now the primary source of physiatric education for the regional professional community.

Today, our inpatient and outpatient programs treat adults and children from the Carolinas, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia and beyond.

Mission Statement

Our mission in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) is to train residents in all aspects of physical medicine and rehabilitation to produce physicians with a broad set of skills that will prepare them for a smooth transition to fellowship training, a general private practice or an academic career. Additionally, our residents complete the program with a solid foundation of expertise in the following specialty areas:

• Neurotrauma (brain injury and spinal cord injury) rehabilitation
• Stroke rehabilitation
• Prosthetics and orthotics
• Musculoskeletal medicine
• Pediatric rehabilitation
• Oncology rehabilitation

Our ideal faculty-to-resident ratio provides for concentrated teaching at the bedside, in the clinic and within a well-structured didactic curriculum. Our faculty is comprised of academic professionals and physicians with active private practices. This balance of experience and perspective provides our residents with a comprehensive understanding and advanced training in the many facets of PM&R practice.