Specialty Advisor
Specialty Advisor and Program Director
Dr. Miguel Escalon
miguel.escalon@mountsinai.org
http://icahn.mssm.edu/profiles/miguel-x-escalon
Advice from Specialty Advisor
What should students be doing in year 1 and 2?
Year 1-2 students should join the PM&R interest group and reach out to some current residents at Sinai to learn more about what rehab is like. An easy place to start is to email our chief residents at sinairehabchiefs@gmail.com. Year 1-2 students can offer to help with any research in their spare time too. They could email either Dr. Mar Cortes, Dr. Kristen Dams-O'Connor or Dr. Escalon for that.
What should students be doing in year 3 and 4?
MS3 - aim to do electives to explore the field and meet mentors. When on a rotation be on the lookout for an interesting case so that you can work with an attending and/or resident to create an abstract for a case report. An MS3 should be researching programs and in the winter or early spring of MS3 year should be applying to do any away rotations (if interested, again these are not required or expected) or Sinai rehab rotation. The best time to do a rotation that also serves as an audition is July through November of your MS4 year.
Is an away elective recommended?
In general it is not needed, but if a student is interested in a particular program, attempting to obtain an away elective at that program can be helpful. This is especially true for the most competitive residencies.
LoRs
Departmental letter necessary?
Some residency programs will require a letter from either the program director or chair of your home institution's PM&R department, others will require a letter from any PM&R doc and some have no requirements at all. All other things being equal, it's always good to have a letter in your specialty of choosing but it is even more important that your letters be strong than from a specific type of physician.
Any specific writers needed?
Dr. Miguel Escalon or Dr. Joseph Herrera
All from the specific specialty or from other specialties as well?
It is recommended to have at least one letter from PM&R faculty, but the other letters can be from other specialties.
Recommended websites
American Academy of PM&R website for students
PM&R Career Advisors website
AAP Medical Student Information Center
CiM Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Profile
The Undifferentiated Medical Student Podcast on PM&R
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Mount Sinai's Department of PM&R
Mount Sinai's PM&R Residency Website
Association of Academic Physiatrists
Recommended journals
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
PMR Journal
American Journal Of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Residency Information Session
Residency Information Session Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2022