Academics
The Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology is the newest jointly administered clinical department at Michigan State University. It was established on July 1, 2000 by founding chair, David Kaufman, D.O. Since its inception, the Department has had 14 years of robust and sustained growth in faculty acquisition, clinical operations, research grants and publications, educational programs and outreach opportunity.
A key to the Department’s sustained growth has been administrative linkages and outreach to a number of different partners on campus and statewide. The Department provides medical director administration of neurosciences (including stroke, EEG and general inpatient neurology) at Sparrow Health System and McLaren Greater Lansing.
The Department created and oversees the country’s first sustained, dually accredited (AOA/ACGME) neurology residency located at Sparrow Health Systems. The residency has matured into one of the larger programs in Neurology in the Big Ten and other AAU-Land Grant Universities nationwide. In addition, through a consortium with the Statewide Campus System, the Department also oversees five osteopathic ophthalmology residencies and three additional neurology residency programs statewide.
In addition to the residency, excellent fellowship opportunities are available in a variety of areas. These include stroke, neuro-intervention (one of the few programs in North America where neurologists lead the training staff), electrophysiology (both EEG and EMG training), neuro-ophthalmology, neuro-otology, neuro-epidemiology (including travel and work opportunity in sub-Sahara Africa) and emerging programs in movement disorders and geriatric neurology.
The Department provides signature courses in medical neurosciences to the first and second year courses in MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and College of Human Medicine. In addition, starting July 2014, the Department coordinates a required clerkship in Neurology for the College of Osteopathic Medicine.