Name: Erin Smith, MD
Medical school attended: UNMC, Class of 2015
Location of your residency/fellowship training:
- UNMC, Neurology residency
- UNMC, Movement disorders fellowship
What fellowship program at UNMC are you serving as program director for?
Movement disorders fellowship
Number of trainees:
Two fellows per year
How long have you been the program director?
Only about 10 months now, but I served as assistant program director for a year prior to assuming the role.
What made you choose to become the program director?
This fellowship program has always been near and dear to my heart as it is my alma mater. Fellow education is also something that I sincerely enjoy, so when my predecessor left the institution, I was excited to step in.
What challenges do you foresee in graduate medical education in the future?
For movement disorders in particular, having discrepant structure and content between training institutions has been and will continue to be a challenge. This makes it crucial to offer comprehensive training in our fellowship program, as the future jobs of our fellows will vary widely depending on where they choose to practice. As a fellowship director, I need to close those educational and experience gaps to prepare my fellows for the real world as best as I can.
As with any training program, we also draw more focus to striking that perfect work/life balance for our fellows. It has become more and more difficult to “have it all” in academic practice between keeping up with the rigors of research frontiers while being dedicated to quality patient care and education.
What are the strengths of your training program?
The Movement Disorders Fellowship program is the oldest, most well-established and structured amongst the neurology fellowships offered at UNMC. We have been fortunate to train 13 movement disorders neurologists over the years, having also successfully matched three new fellows to start in July 2024.
We offer comprehensive training in movement disorders, not just in the diagnosis and treatment of the most common conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, ataxia and dystonia but also in advanced therapeutics and surgical technologies. We have weekly formal didactics sessions, live cadaver lab training and dedicated workshops for botulinum toxin injections. Our faculty are all enthusiastic educators heavily involved in education at the medical student, resident and fellow levels. We have also been very fortunate to train 13 wonderful fellows.
List some accomplishments that you are proud of:
I am proud of the movement disorders division for being recognized as excellent educators and mentors. We all hold academic titles ranging from the neurology resident program director, resident curriculum chai, and Phase 3 medical student director. I assumed the role of Phase I medical student neurology block director, and I find this job extremely important to reach students and get them interested in neurology early on in their training.
Tell us three things about you that others may not know:
- I have been to hundreds of concerts. My happiest place is in a mosh pit.
- My twin sister and I have sang at many events together. She’s also a neurologist.
- I have lived in Nebraska all of my life and completed all of my medical training at UNMC.