Andrew Widmer, MD, PhD

I’m a resident in the Child Neurology/Pediatrics Combined Residency Program at Cincinnati Children’s. I decided to pursue the subspecialty of neurology because I like to give individualized, deep thought to each patient and their specific needs. Neurology is a field in which careful diagnostic consideration and tailored treatment plans are expected for every patient.

I chose Cincinnati Children’s for my residency because the current residents were extremely enthusiastic about their training experience. I thought that the opportunities offered at such a world-class institution would be difficult to find elsewhere. I was strongly motivated because Cincinnati Children’s is the largest, best children’s hospital for many miles around. This opportunity means that there will always be basic primary care and more straightforward cases to learn from, in addition to the highly complex referral cases.

Most of the other Cincinnati Children’s caliber institutions are located within major metropolitan centers, with local hospitals providing the community care. However, our relationship with the city of Cincinnati and the local area is very strong. We are seen as an academic referral center that is available for general pediatric care.

I worked with the chiefs and pitched a special project with a colleague to design a remote elective course with one of Cincinnati Children’s pediatric neuroradiologists. He was willing to meet one-on-one with me to provide individualized education. I ended up using one of his teaching points the very next month in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU)!

I did my PhD thesis on inhibitory neurotransmission in a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome, with a focus on how idiopathic epilepsy arises and how excitatory/inhibitory imbalance factors into disordered network function.

Though almost all of my free time is spent with my wife and two young sons, I am rapidly accumulating more projects than time. Since moving to Cincinnati and buying a home, I finally have a place to try out practical skills. I made a raised bed garden and filled it with homemade vermicompost, partially restored a 1964 Shasta camper and have taken my family to Stonelick State Park to attend an amateur astronomy event. We’ve explored nearby parks and trails to learn more about the Ohio River Valley geology and ecology. My wife and I restored a reclaimed solid-wood wardrobe, and I’m building a traditional longbow from a single stave of wood using only hand tools.