If an individual in the department has not already been chosen as a representative, the student should contact Dr. Jose Biller. Following this, depending upon the special interests that the individual may have, he may be directed to other members of the Department of Neurology for specific counseling.
TYPE OF ELECTIVES:
The Department of Neurology recommends that the student who has definitely decided
to make Neurology his career not take Neurology electives. Because of the large number of
areas that are important for Neurology, we do not recommend specific subjects or
locations. We prefer to individually counsel each student.
The Department of Neurology strongly recommends that students who are considering
Neurology, but are not definitely decided, take an elective in Adult or Child Neurology.
NEED OF INTERNSHIP AND TYPE:
One cannot teach the basic principles of Medicine in addition to Neurology in a three
year residency program. For this reason, all Neurology programs require Post Graduate Year
1 to be in medicine or pediatrics.
The type of PG 1 must include a broad clinical experience in general
internal medicine in an ACGME approved program. This year must include at
least one of the following: (a) 8 months in internal medicine with primary
responsibility in patient care or (b) 6 months in internal medicine with
primary responsibility in patient care and a period of at least 2 months
total time in pediatrics or emergency medicine or both. Residents must spend
no more than 2 months in neurology during this year, or a full year of
training in internal medicine.
If
the individual plans to be a Pediatric Neurologist, the training can be
initiated following one of three options: 1) Two years of residency training
in pediatrics in the United States or Canada; 2) One PG 1 year (as described
in the Program Requirements for Residency Education in Neurology, Section
I.A.1) and one year of residency training in pediatrics; 2) One year of
pediatrics plus one year of basic neuroscience training. The program
director must review and determine the acceptability of these initial 2
years of training.
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION:
These should be written by any qualified faculty member, preferably one who has had
enough exposure to evaluate the individual as well as academic excellence. These should be
written at the time of application.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER when looking for a graduate program in
Neurology:
Almost all programs in the United States are university or university affiliated; and,
most are good, but some are clearly superior.
The type and location of practice desired greatly influence the selection of program.
For an individual going into clinical practice, it may be of value to train in the area
where they plan to practice. Those who plan to go into academic and research in Neurology
will need to be individually counseled because there are such wide variations in basic and
clinical research in the programs.
Jose Biller, M.D.
Professor and Chairman
Department of Neurology