Medical Student Education

MD 832: Clerkship in Neurology

Course Director: Tarek Ali, MBBS, MEd

The neurology clerkship is a four-week course for third-year medical students. This clinical clerkship is designed to provide students with foundational knowledge in neurology. Through a variety of clinical experiences, students participate in the care of neurology patients. Students develop and refine their clinical skills (e.g. interviewing, physical examination, differential diagnosis, and formulating diagnostic and treatment plans) for patient problems under the direct supervision of faculty preceptors.

Students spend three weeks on inpatient neurology services at UK Hospital under the tutelage of resident and faculty physicians. The remaining week is spent in our clinical faculty’s outpatient sub-specialty clinics.

Adopting the flipped classroom model of instruction, students review lecture content independently and at their own pace. Classroom sessions are used to discuss cases and conditions related to common topics in neurology. Students attend case discussion sessions and weekly departmental didactics throughout each week.

Acting Internship in Neurology, NEU-850

Course Director: Julie Youssefi, MD

Students gain clinical experience in adult neurology under the supervision of residents and attending physicians. Clinical duties consist of inpatient ward and consult service, weekend rounds, day call, and overnight call. Students attend regular departmental didactic series, complete assigned readings, perform lumbar puncture and hand-offs with direct supervision, and take a brief oral exam with the course director at the end of the rotation. The goal is to prepare students to take on responsibilities of a resident in Neurology or related disciplines where neurologic disorders are often seen. Students considering a career in Neurology, Neurosurgery, or Emergency Medicine are encouraged to take this course.

Acting Internship in Child Neurology, NEU-851

Course Director: Kimberly Jones, MD

Students gain clinical experience in child neurology under the supervision of residents and attending physicians. Clinical duties consist of participating in ward rounds on inpatient child neurology wards and consult services. Students attend regular departmental didactic series, perform hand-offs with direct supervision, and submit a case report to the course director at the end of the rotation. The goal is to prepare students to take on responsibilities of a resident in Child Neurology or related disciplines where neurologic disorders of childhood are often seen. Students considering a career in Neurology, Child Neurology, or Pediatrics are encouraged to take this course.

Clinical Neurophysiology, NEU-854

Course Director: Stephen Ryan, MD, MA

This course is designed to provide experience for medical students in the interpretation of clinical electrophysiological studies in neurology. These studies include Electroencephalograms (EEG), Sensory Evoked Potentials (EP), Electromyograms (EMG) and Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV) studies, and Intraoperative Monitoring. Students gain direct experience both in the performance of such studies and their interpretation with emphasis on clinical correlation. Students may choose to spend time in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit learning to interpret long-term video EEG studies. If circumstances allow and an epilepsy surgery or Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) placement occurs during the student's elective, the student is invited to accompany the attending to the operating room to observe these unique procedures.