Overview
The MSU Neurology Clerkship is a four-week clinical experience for 3rd year medical students in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. The clerkship is community-based within the Statewide Campus System. Clinical settings include hospitals, academic and/or private practice offices. Each 4 week rotation allows exposure to a broad spectrum of acute and chronic neurological diseases.
The neurology clerkship builds upon the knowledge and experience developed in the pre-clinical curriculum. The curriculum is comprised of direct and indirect patient encounters, required and recommended readings, seminars, online modules and case study exercises.
All sites share common goals and objectives. The major focus of our clerkship experience is to develop the basic knowledge and skills necessary to evaluate neurological problems and perform a complete and accurate neurological examination. At the end of the clerkship, students will have a greater familiarity with the use of neurological tests, including lumbar puncture, neuroimaging procedures, EEG, EMG and nerve conduction studies.
Clerkship Personnel
- Clerkship Director: Michael Flink, D.O., Ph.D.
- Department Chair: Jayne Ward, D.O.
- Administrative Support: Sandra Holliday/Krista Leiter
Neurology Clerkship Objectives
- Develop the ability to perform a competent neurological examination.
- Learn to localize neurological lesions based on history and neurological examination.
- Acquire an understanding of the major neurological disorders.
- Acquire an understanding of basic laboratory tests necessary to pursue a suspected diagnosis; including, but not limited to, electrophysiology, neuroimaging (CT, MRI, etc.), CSF, hematology and metabolic analysis, history and general physical exam.
- Develop an understanding of the neuropathology, prognosis and treatment strategies for common neurological conditions.
Responsibilities of Neurology Attending
The Neurology Attending will have direct responsibility for supervising and teaching the student. They also have the primary responsibility for providing frequent and timely feedback, and for evaluating the student at the conclusion of the rotation.
The Student on the Neurology Clerkship has the Following Responsibilities
- Obtain a complete history, perform a complete general and neurological examination, generate a differential diagnosis and formulate a plan of treatment for all patients that are assigned to him/her.
- Present each assigned patient as needed on rounds, and complete the work-up on the same day that the patient is evaluated. Progress notes are to be written daily on all inpatients that are followed by the student.
- Work as a member of the team to which he/she is assigned, and participate in all work rounds, attending rounds, and resident conferences.
- Review all laboratory studies obtained on his/her patients, including CT and MR scans, EEGs, EMGs, evoked potentials, and lumbar punctures.
- The student is encouraged to perform lumbar punctures, under supervision by the neurology resident or attending, on his/her patients if indicated.
- Attend the C3 didactic sessions provided during this month as indicated in the C3 (OST 603) syllabus.
- Take and pass the Neurology Final Exam with a 60% or higher.
- Provide the Attending Evaluation of Student to the attending for formal feedback.
- Complete the Student Evaluation of Rotation located in Kobiljak schedule.
Neurology Clerkship Syllabus
Access through MSU-COM Academic Programs site
The curriculum for the clerkship can be located within Desire2Learn. Enrolled students will have access to the course by its specific section number. To access your Desire2Learn course, please go to http://d2l.msu.edu/ and log in using your MSU Net ID and password. You will want to select your NOP 656 – Core Neurology Clerkship course.
Attendings will have access to the curriculum through a development course within Desire2Learn (D2L). We offer all neurology attendings, with a MSU-COM student, the opportunity to have a clinical faculty appointment. Once the appointment has been fully processed, the attending will receive a MSU NetID which is used to access the curriculum within D2L.