Last year our name changed. Sparrow Hospital, our sponsor, has been acquired by the University of Michigan medical system. Thus, the name of our residency is changed to University of Michigan - Sparrow- Michigan State University.
This seems very unusual to have University of Michigan and Michigan State both in our name. On the other hand, working with the University of Michigan gives us significant advantages. UM is a mission driven educational and research organization. We believe this will help our residency and so far it has.
The graduate medical education (GME) for University of Michigan and UMH-Sparrow will remain separate and under separate sponsorship.
Outside of the name change so far the changes to our program have been minimal and the ones that have occurred have been good. University of Michigan is used to dealing with education training and residencies and has a good system for handling most problems.
There is one more change coming. Michael Andary MD MS, the only ACGME Program Director (PD) this program has had, will be stepping down to become the Associate Program Director (APD) October 1, 2025. Greg Gilmour MD will be stepping from the APD to PD. This is a plan of succession and should not initially change the residency much. Dr. Andary is not planning to retire and plans (circumstances allowing) to remain teaching, and rounding for at least 1 to 5 years.
Applicants for the Sparrow Residency Match in March 2026.
2026 Match Application Process
There is one basic pathway to apply for all positions and that is through ERAS
We are currently recruiting for four NRMP PGY- 1 slots, to start July 1, 2026
Our interview process will start in late November and will end in early January. Students who have rotated with us will interview during the rotation. For these students we will arrange to finish the interview process by telephone, likely in mid-January.
For medical students looking to do a visiting rotation it is available through VSAS.
The contact for visiting medical students is:
Bryanna Powers, Curriculum Coordinator, Michigan State University, Lansing Assistant Dean’s Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Lansing Community Office of the Assistant Dean. Email: smit1617@msu.edu
Medical rehabilitation is global in scope, viewing the person in a holistic manner. In addition to medical issues, attention is directed to cognitive, social, psychological, and economic problems, which are often more disabling than physical impairments. The goals of medical rehabilitation are to alleviate or minimize disability from handicapping conditions, improve quality of life and self-esteem, and to transform dependence to independence. Our faculty is dedicated to providing quality clinical service to persons with disabilities by utilizing the latest research and innovative delivery methods.
The Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation participates in the following programs: brain injury rehabilitation; chronic pain rehabilitation; pain management; interventional pain management; electrodiagnosis; osteopathic manipulative medicine; botulinum toxin injections; general inpatient rehabilitation; inpatient and outpatient consultations; physical therapy; occupational therapy; speech-language pathology; biofeedback; disability evaluation; neuropsychology and psychology evaluation; vocational evaluation, work skills development and job placement; work-place ergonomic assessments; family education; and communication services. Additional services available on a consultative basis include audiology, orthotics/prosthetics, and rehabilitation engineering/technology.
Clinical Component: The residency clinical experience includes general inpatient rehabilitation, specialized training in spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, chronic pain disability, electrodiagnostic medicine, manual medicine training, outpatient experiences in general rehabilitation, musculoskeletal medicine, ward supervision, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, and rehabilitation consultation. Required out-rotations include osteopathic manipulative medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, radiology, orthopedics, rheumatology, sports medicine, and prosthetics/orthotics. In addition to the required out rotations listed above, four weeks of research time can be worked into the rotations and other rotations are available based on educational needs.
Didactic Component: Residents participate in a regularly scheduled, cyclic PM&R didactic instructional series covering all the major content areas in the discipline of PM&R. Other regularly scheduled didactic activities include:
Additional didactics can be tailored to a resident’s patient population and personal interests. Training/experience in academic presentations and teaching skills is provided.
Research: Research and scholarly productivity is encouraged and supported. A required structured module system teaches our residents research methodology. Each resident is required to either conduct original research, participate in a joint research project, participate with a project already in progress, or write a review paper suitable for publication. Mentorship for research projects is available.
Affiliated Facilities:
UMH Sparrow Hospital Lansing MI: Inpatient Mary Free Bed at UMH-Sparrow Rehabilitation (40 beds), EMG Clinics, Pediatric Rehabilitation, Outpatient rotations, and Senior Resident Continuity Clinic
McLaren Hospital of Greater Lansing, MI: Inpatient consults, EMG Clinic
McLaren Hospital Flint, MI: Inpatient Rehabilitation, Pain Medicine and Outpatient PM&R, Interventional Pain Management
Mary Free Bed Hospital Grand Rapids MI: Inpatient Rehabilitation primarily Spinal Cord Injury, and Pediatric Rehabilitation
MSU Spine Center East Lansing MI: Outpatient Pain Medicine, Interventional Pain Management, Musculoskeletal Ultrasound, OMM, Sports Medicine, EMGs and IMEs.