Residency Subspecialty Education

The Division of Pediatric Neurology has a professional staff consisting of 4 full-time and 2 part-time pediatric neurologists, 6 Fellows, a neuropsychologist, a clinic coordinator and a social worker. A division of the Department of Neurology, the Child Neurology service has access to a large and active neurology faculty and a full range of neurodiagnostic services such as EEG, EMG, evoked potential laboratories, sleep laboratory and a neuromuscular disease clinic as well as a new Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at UHB.

Pediatric neurology in-patient activity occurs at both Kings County Hospital and University Hospital. There are 2 in-patient teams, one for consultations and one for neurology admissions, each consisting of an Attending, a Fellow and 'rotators' from general pediatrics and adult neurology. Both teams meet at a daily morning report where all consultations and admissions are presented and discussed. The most frequent admissions are children with difficult to control seizures, hydrocephalus, complications of V-P shunts, CNS tumors, and some interesting neurometabolic diseases. The consult service is often involved with severe head trauma, CNS infections and neurologic complications of systemic disorders such as renal diseases, sickle cell disease or metabolic seizures. There are frequent consultations by neonatology and sometimes from child psychiatry.

Weekly out-patient clinics held include one at KCHC and three at University Hospital: (1) Screening Clinic for new patients; (2) General Follow-Up Clinic; (3) Seizure Disorders; (4) one of the following special continuity clinics: Neurosurgical follow-up, Learning Disability, Spina Bifida/Neuroanatomic Disorders Clinic - a multidisciplinary clinic which is the only one of its kind outside the Rusk Institute in Manhattan. The spectrum of patients being seen in the clinics ranges from headaches, seizure disorders, developmental disabilities, motor or cognitive sequelae of head trauma, CNS infections, cerebro-vascular disorders and cerebral infarction. The division works closely with Pediatric Neurosurgery, and 2 out-patient clinics are operated jointly. Patient management conferences and brain tumor board conferences are held as needed.

The teaching program includes daily morning report and bedside rounds, weekly Grand Rounds, a weekly pediatric neurology topic conference and bi-weekly conferences in neuropathology, neuro-ophthalmology and mucle diseases. There is a monthly Journal Club conducted by a bio-statistician and a didactic course in neuroscience and in pediatric neuropsychology. All of the above are open to all neurology residents, fellows, and rotating residents.

Several faculty members are engaged in NIH funded research: studying the mechanisms of epilepsy using hippocampal neurocortical brain slices in vitro; studying long-term memory and long-term potentiation using hippocampal slices; investigating molecular biology of congenital myopathies; studying brain functions using magnetic coil stimulation; studying calcium mediated glutamate excitotoxicity; clinical studies of the role of ionized magnesium in the pathogenesis of migraine. Residents are encouraged to participate in research projects.