Fellowship Structure
The Vascular Neurology Fellowship includes inpatient rotations, outpatient clinics, and a weekly lecture series. Each fellow must complete the following rotations:
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- 6 months on the Inpatient Stroke Service
- Neurorehabilitation Rotation
- Neurosonology Rotation
- Neurocritical Care Rotation
- Acute Teleneurology Rotation
- Medical Subspecialty Clinic Rotation
- 3 Months of Electives
Expand each of the below to learn more:
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Inpatient Stroke Service
This service is comprised of 2-3 residents as well as medical students and advanced practice providers. The service typically has up to 20 inpatients. Patients may be admitted to this service through the emergency room, from UAB clinics or as transfers from other hospitals. The fellow is responsible for overseeing the management of all patients on this service as well as acute stroke patients in the emergency room. Fellows will typically not be responsible for carrying their own patient load but should function in a supervisory role over the residents.
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Neurorehabilitation
Fellows will spend two weeks working on the inpatient neurorehabilitation service at the Spain Rehabilitation Hospital. Here, fellows will be able to monitor the progress of patients following their acute management on the inpatient stroke service. Most stroke patients admitted to the rehabilitation service will stay in the center for 1-3 weeks. Fellows will also have the opportunity to work in the outpatient rehabilitation clinics, neuropsychiatry lab, and learn about procedures for management of spasticity and other long-term rehabilitation needs for stroke survivors.
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Neurosonology
The neurosonology laboratory adjacent to the inpatient stroke unit provides an opportunity for fellows to learn carotid and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography. Fellows may also learn special techniques including bubble tests, emboli detection and vasomotor reactivity. Fellows will be able to read enough studies to meet requirements to sit for the ASN examination (www.asnweb.org).
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Neurocritical Care
The NICU is located next to the inpatient stroke unit. Vascular Neurology fellows will rotate though this service and assist in the management of stroke patients as well as neurosurgical and other neurology patients requiring intensive care.
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Acute Teleneurology
UAB currently manages a 35-hospital network across Alabama for acute teleneurology. During a focused two-week block a the beginning of the fellowship, trainees will become comfortable with assessment of acute stroke patients presenting to hospitals of varied complexity and guiding acute stroke care via telemedicine. Fellows may continue to do shifts in telemedicine as part of other rotations through the year or do dedicated elective time with this service.
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Medical Subspecialty Clinics
As there is substantial overlap in the management of cerebrovascular disease with other medical fields, fellows will complete a two-week outpatient rotation with subspeciality clinics in cardiology and hematology. Clinics include the multidisciplinary heart-brain clinic, structural cardiology clinic, electrophysiology clinic, and hypercoagulable disorders clinic. Fellows will also have the opportunity to observe cardiology procedures including PFO closure, left atrial appendage closure, and cardiac ablation.
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Electives
Electives may include additional training in neurocritical care, neuroimaging or neurointerventional surgery. Fellows may also use their elective time to pursue research projects. All electives must be approved by the Program Director.
Didactics
Protected time for education is an important feature of our fellowship. Each week residents will have the opportunity to participate in several didactic sessions covering all aspects of stroke care.
- Fellow Conference- A biweekly fellow-led conference for comprehensive review of topics as well as discussion of recent journal articles.
- Neuroradiology Conference- A weekly conference for neurology residents and fellows to present cases for neuroimaging review.
- Grand Rounds- A weekly lecture presented by UAB faculty and visiting professors covering all aspects of neurology.
- Neurovascular Case Conference- This multidisciplinary conference meets on a weekly basis to discuss cases on the stroke and vascular neurosurgery service. This conference is also an opportunity discuss challenging patients seen in the outpatient clinics.
- Stroke Journal Club- a monthly collaborative conference with neurology residents where a fellow and resident will jointly present recently published studies and randomized trials.
- In addition to these conferences, fellows may be asked to give lectures for medical students as part of their neurosciences curriculum and to participate in stroke education during the UAB Neurology Residency Noon Conference Series.
Call Responsibilities
Vascular Neurology Fellows should be available during the daytime to answer questions from residents at UAB or the Birmingham VA regarding management of stroke patients. They will also participate in the overnight call system for stroke on average 6 nights each month. On weekdays, call starts at 5 PM and ends at 7 AM. On weekends, call lasts from 7 AM to 7 AM the following day.