A message from the Program Director

Welcome!  If you are a potential Neurology resident, thanks for considering our program at Duke.  Residency is an exciting time during which you will mature both personally and as a physician.  No matter where you train, you will face many of the same challenges.  With good support and mentoring, the difficulties that are inherent in the complicated practice of neurology can serve as a vehicle for positive growth.  I think it is important that you train in a supportive environment, and I believe we offer that at Duke.  Our faculty is here because we love being part of the support system for trainees.  We take mentoring our house staff seriously and want to help each resident understand where he or she wants to be and how to get there.  After my wife and four kids, the people I work with at Duke are my second family.  Like a family, we have many different personalities, but we take the good and bad in everything together and try to develop and work toward common goals.

I feel lucky to have residents as part of our practice because I could not imagine a group of more thoughtful, energetic, and smart people to be around. When I was resident here I hoped I would be able to teach my teachers something to repay their efforts.  Now that I am the program director, I can tell you our residents are definitely also our teachers. They not only teach the faculty, our students, and each other but, most importantly, our patients.  One of the most fun and rewarding experiences for me is to watch a resident step into a situation and have the confidence to be in control of it. That does not always mean having "the answer", but it means knowing how to calmly approach a problem of any sort and make the situation better. 

Many people have asked me why I want to spend my time being a residency program director. Early in my career I gave a lot of thought to what I wanted to do to make a difference in Neurology other than taking the best care of my patients that I could.  I found my answer in teaching.  I believe that, as portrayed in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life", the things we do to help people have far-reaching ripple effects.  By helping my house staff to become great physicians, I have helped many more patients than I have directly examined and treated.  I have been fortunate to be able to extend my interest in training neurologists beyond the walls of Duke.  I served as the first Chair of the Consortium of Neurology Program Directors (through the American Academy of Neurology), ran the first Boot Camp for education of Neurology Program Directors (through the Association of University Professors of Neurology) and participate in many local and national committees and groups dedicated to neurological education. 

We are committed to the highest quality training of the residents here at Duke.  I hope you will seriously consider the Adult Neurology Residency Program at Duke, and I look forward to meeting you.


Joel Morgenlander, MD
Program Director
Professor of Medicine (Neurology) 

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