Message from the Program Director

The St. Joseph’s Medical Center Neurology Residency program welcomed its inaugural class of four residents in July of 2022. We are one of nine ACGME accredited residencies and two fellowship programs at “Joe’s”.  Neurology is a categorical residency program where you spend the majority of your four years of training at our medical center and campus in sunny Stockton, California. SJMC is a 355-bed acute care hospital that provides neurologic services to 1,100 in-patients annually. 

As a resident in our program, your education includes the inpatient Neurologic Consultation and Admitting Services, continuity clinic at Touro University Medical Group Neurology Clinic, a not-for-profit subsidiary of Touro University, California, where you will have exposure to procedures including EMG/Nerve Conduction and use of botulinum toxin for conditions such as migraine, spasticity and movement disorders. Additional compulsory and elective rotations at UC Davis and San Joaquin General Hospital, for rotations in neurocritical care, neurosurgery, child neurology, EEG/Epilepsy/Epilepsy Monitoring Unit and Neuroradiology/Interventional Radiology round out your educational experience. Additional subspecialty rotations are also available.  

Our robust curriculum includes Grand Rounds and didactics with the UC Davis Department of Neurology in Sacramento. We take full advantage of our local and talented academic faculty for educational activities including simulation exercises, case conferences, Board and RITE preparation, neuroradiology rounds and journal club.  

My involvement in graduate and undergraduate medical education spans more than 30 years and I am joined by an enthusiastic and experienced academic neurologic faculty. Collectively, we are dedicated to ensuring that your educational journey guarantees the resources and tools that facilitate your transformation into a competent, autonomous, comprehensive neurologist, ready to embark on your career or transition into a fellowship program. 

The San Joaquin Valley is California’s fastest growing population with the lowest number of healthcare providers per 100,000 population in California. Lack of access to care, and social determinants of health that include poverty, language barriers, food and housing insecurity, and lack of transportation collectively impact the quality of life for a portion of 1.5 million people that reside in our five-county region. Your exposure to neurologic disorders will be staggering and your contribution consequential. We view our SJMC residency training programs as one solution to help repair our small corner of the world. 

While residency training is busy, there will be time to enjoy the breadth of recreational and cultural activities available in Stockton and the surrounding area. We live in a mediterranean climate where summer delta breezes from the Pacific Ocean cool our warm summer days. Bask in our cultural diversity and partake in a vast palette of cuisines. You will reside in proximity to Northern California’s attractions.  Spend an afternoon picnicking at local wineries, fishing in the delta, snow skiing in the Sierra Nevada’s, strolling along the rugged northern California coast, attending performing arts centers and professional sporting events. If a big city experience is an occasional preference, we are 45 minutes from Sacramento, and 1.5 hours from San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Your residency training is enriched by the vibrancy of our people, a community of dedicated educators and the abundance of our region’s resources.  

Thank you so much for your interest in our growing neurology residency training program!  

Richard B. Riemer, DO
Program Director, SJMC Neurology Residency
Professor of Clinical Neurology, Touro University, California
Senior Associate Dean, Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine (Stockton)