Message from the Chief Residents

Ruth Thomson

Welcome to the University of Minnesota, Department of Neurology Residency program! We are very pleased with your interest in our program and would love an opportunity to tell you more about us! I grew up in the north eastern part of North Dakota, about an hour north of Grand Forks. After attending the University of North Dakota I transferred to the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus as an undergraduate and fell in love with Minnesota. I left only to attend medical school in Des Moines, Iowa, returned for residency, and will make Minnesota my home after completion of my fellowship program. Everyone asks about our winters! Don’t let our reputation for severe weather scare you! Our winters are really beautiful! Yes, we have snow and some very cold weather, but the season is generally pretty manageable and usually not very long lived. The other three seasons in the Twin Cities are fantastic and people in the metro area really take advantage of these months and spend a great deal of time outside! Life in the Twin Cities is great because of all the wonderful assets our communities have. People spend a great deal of time hanging out by the lakes, running, biking, swimming, etc. We have all of the attractions of the larger cites (theater, major art museums, great dining, wonderful cultural communities, sporting events, tons of parks and plenty of opportunities to lead a healthy, active lifestyle), but no real difficulty with traffic and congestion. You won’t find an easier lifestyle anywhere in the United States!

Our program has experienced some rapid expansion in the past few years. We now have 6 residents per class, and new fellowship opportunities including Neurocritical Care and Movement Disorders. We are a friendly, hardworking group of individuals who all benefit from the wide variety of training opportunities afforded by our program. Our attendings and fellows are great to work with! There is something for everyone in our program; this is reflected in the great breadth of interests found amongst our residents. Many of us have a keen interest in research and have found places within the program to explore their areas of interest. Our stroke program is a very significant part of who we are, but there is much, much more to the University of Minnesota Neurology Residency program. We have numerous subspecialty clinics within our system. The vast majority of our graduates enter into fellowship training after program completion. I will complete the vascular neurology fellowship here at the University of Minnesota after graduation next spring. Our pass rate for the Neurology Board Examination after program completion is 100% in the last decade. I have been very happy here at the University of Minnesota and I hope you will take a bit of time to see for yourself what our program has to offer!

Ganesh Asaithambi

It is my distinct pleasure to welcome your interest in the neurology training program at the University of Minnesota. I am from St. Louis, MO, and completed the combined degree program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. My main attraction to the program at the University of Minnesota was for its strengths in stroke and endovascular surgical neuroradiology. However, we have many more strengths! As a resident here, you will train to become a well rounded neurologist with great exposure to all subspecialties of neurology. You will have the opportunity to work with wonderful, approachable faculty who are committed to teaching. Research opportunities are abundant, too, and you will find many faculty members happy to have the opportunity to mentor you. Our program continues to grow with the addition of new faculty members and changes to our curriculum. We have added new rotations in neuro-critical care, neurophysiology, and revamped our clinic experiences. Fellowships in stroke, neuro-critical care, neurophysiology, movement disorders, and endovascular surgical neuroradiology are available at our institution – many of which our residents stay to complete. Our residents are a great group of hard working individuals, and we work well together. Each class is composed of six residents, and all of us have varied interests within the field of neurology. I consider myself lucky to be a part of this group.

There’s a lot of culture in the Twin Cities. This includes art museums, theaters, fine dining, professional sports, and many outdoor activities. We have an abundance of art museums (fourth most in the nation) to explore, with the most famous being the Walker Art Center. Everyone in Minnesota enjoys the outdoors – running, hiking, fishing, swimming, sailing, biking among many other activities. Minneapolis/St. Paul is one of the fittest/healthiest cities in the United States. There are multiple professional sports teams in the Twin Cities that play during all seasons; you’ll never get bored! My favorite site is Target Field, which opened a few seasons ago in

downtown Minneapolis. The cuisine is great here, and several ethnicities are represented. For those shopaholics, the Mall of America is a great place to visit (tax-free on clothes). With an assortment of things to do in the Twin Cities area, you’ll never be bored.

Thank you for your interest in our program. We can't wait to meet you and your families and to welcome you to the Twin Cities!