Core Clerkship Neurology
NN 500M
Subject & Catalog Number
Course Information
Description
The Core Clerkship in Neurology is an immersive introduction to clinical neurology, where students rotate on inpatient neurology services, evaluate neurologic emergencies in the emergency department, and participate in outpatient clinics. Throughout the rotation, students develop essential clinical skills taking neurologic histories, mastering the foundational neurological examination, and learning the workup for neurologic patients.
Students actively participate in patient care as part of multidisciplinary teams, conducting detailed patient workups under the supervision of neurology residents and faculty members. They attend daily ward rounds on teaching services and departmental conferences, and engage in specialized educational activities such as bedside tutorials, didactic sessions, and site-specific tutorials.
The clerkship also provides exposure to a wide range of neurologic conditions from common diseases to emergencies. The clerkship emphasizes hands-on learning and direct clinical teaching, including an observed clinical examination. By the end of the rotation, students gain confidence and competence in the evaluation, diagnosis, and management of neurological disorders, preparing them to care for some of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
Students complete the NBME Clinical Neurology Subject Exam as part of their final assessment. The Neurology core clerkship learning objectives and student assessments are the same across sites.
Class Notes
The HMS Cambridge Integrated Clerkship (CIC) is a year-long longitudinal integrated clerkship at Cambridge Health, an academic urban public-sector community health system. The CIC emphasizes continuity of care with patients and continuity of supervision by attending teaching faculty. Clerkship students follow patients longitudinally, engaging in their care across different specialties and learning in all clerkship areas simultaneously throughout the year.
In the longitudinal structure of the HMS CIC Neurology Clerkship, students attend one neurology clinic session per week with their neurologist attending clinician preceptor. During the first half of their clerkship, they develop essential clinical skills such as taking increasingly refined neurologic histories, mastering the foundational neurological examination, and learning the work-up for core neurologic conditions. After the mid clerkship point, students can evaluate and examine patients independently with subsequent close oversight of their neurology attending. Students undertake opportunities to engage in inpatient consults during the clerkship; in this role, students evaluate and examine patients independently and then present to the neurology inpatient preceptor. Throughout the year, students refine their neurology formulation, oral presentation, and note writing skills for both ambulatory and inpatient consults, and receive feedback on presentations/notes with their preceptor. They receive feedback regularly throughout the longitudinal rotation.
The clerkship emphasizes hands-on learning and direct clinical teaching, including an observed clinical examination. Organized, interactive neurology didactics that build core content knowledge and clinical reasoning skills take place weekly in the weeks before the Neurology SHELF Exam. By the end of the rotation, students gain confidence and competence in the evaluation, diagnosis, and management of most neurological disorders, preparing them to care for some of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
Students complete the NBME Clinical Neurology Subject Exam as part of their final assessment. The Neurology core clerkship learning objectives and student assessments are the same at all PCE sites.
Not Available for Cross Registration
