Matt R. Woodward
Hometown: Farmington, CT
College: Tufts University
Medical School: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
PGY-1 Training: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
UMMC Graduation Year: 2021
My path to medicine and to Neurology was a bit meandering. During college, I completed my pre-med courses while getting heavily involved in behavioral research, spending hours daily in a lab studying the impact of alcohol on aggression in mice. Yes... my job was to teach mice to drink and observe them fighting. After graduating from Tufts, I planned on doing research for a year or so while I applied to medical school. I worked as a research assistant in a Geriatric Psychiatry research group at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts and became engrossed in projects using MRI to understand the neurobiochemistry of mood disorder, as well as clinical trials of disease modifying therapy in Alzheimer's disease. This gap year turned into four rewarding years where I fell in love with clinical research but also my clinical interactions with patients. I made it through nearly three years of medical school convinced that I was going to become a geriatric psychiatrist like my mentors... until I started my first neurology clerkship. It encompassed so much of what I found fascinating from my research experience with all the medicine and clinical exam skills I learned during med school.
For me, choosing UMMC was a bit of a no-brainer. My wife was already in her PGY-1 year of Peds at Hopkins, so I knew I wanted to be in the mid-Atlantic area. After spending a lot of time during 4th year in Baltimore with my wife, I came to really enjoy the food scene, Sunday morning farmer's markets and eclectic neighborhoods of the city. At the time I applied I didn't have my heart set on any specific sub-specialty within Neurology, so I really appreciated the fact that the faculty included experts in a wide variety of disciplines, as well as a large closed Neuro ICU and an epilepsy monitoring unit. Most importantly though, all the residents I met during my interview experience seemed happy and got along well.
When I'm not working, I enjoy hanging out with my wife and our puppy, Riley. I love cooking elaborate meals as well as exploring the food scene in Baltimore. I also enjoy traveling, hiking and home-brewing beer. During the past few years I've been to Iceland, Hawaii, Cuba and Colombia. Growing up exactly half-way between Boston and NYC, I am a die hard Red Sox, Celtics and NY Giants fan. Recently, I've become interested in woodworking and am trying to learn how to build furniture.