The OU College of Medicine Neurology Clerkship is a mandatory 4-week rotation occurring in the third year. The goal of the Neurology Clerkship is to teach medical students as effectively as possible how to care for patients with common and urgent neurologic conditions by providing two concurrent and complementary curricula: (1) a standardized, competency-based, didactic curriculum utilizing case-based learning, simulation, focused skills assessments, self-directed learning, essay assignments, and small-group discussions; and (2) a traditional curriculum based on clinical experiences tailored to the learner’s interests. The standardized curriculum provides students with the core knowledge, skills, and attitudes in clinical neurology that are essential for future non-neurologists while the experiential curriculum provides context and validity, thereby enhancing retention of the core content and facilitating supplemental gains in knowledge and skills. See “Medical Students” webpage for contact information.
Standardized Didactic Curriculum
- Case-Based Learning (CBL). Twenty essential neurologic cases—10 common outpatient conditions and 10 key emergency conditions. Students review 10 cases in instructor-led sessions and 10 in self-learning format. A brief quiz follows each CBL assignment.
- Neuroanatomy and Brain Imaging Review. Self-learning online materials with accompanying instructor-led, small-group discussion-based review.
- Brain Imaging Self-Study. Three online lectures viewed the first two weeks of the rotation followed by a quiz covering CT and MRI images of the brain, both anatomy and pathology, with emphasis on CT neuroanatomy, including CSF cisterns.
- Essential Neurologic Findings (ENF) Self-Study. Self-learning online program containing videos or still images of 26 key clinical findings in neurology that every primary-care clinician should be able to recognize & understand followed by a quiz.
- Neurotransmission Interdisciplinary Team Self-Study. Self-learning narratives of an interdisciplinary team meeting involving four patients followed by a quiz regarding the responsibilities of various health professionals.
- Case Summaries/Handovers Training. Students create eight case summaries/handovers (two each week) regarding patients they have seen in the hospital or clinic, four written in 100 words or less and four presented orally in 2 minutes or less, followed by formative assessments (feedback without grade) the first two weeks and summative assessments (grades) the last two weeks.
- Objective Structured Clinical Exams (OSCEs). Two in-person standardized-patient (SP) sessions: an aphasia OSCE focused on the neurologic exam of a patient with aphasia and a coma OSCE focused on the neurologic exam of a comatose patient plus counseling of the patient’s caregiver with 360° formative assessments.
- Ethics & Professionalism Readings, Essays, & Discussion. Preparation with a self-learning review of “Diagnosis, Management, & Professionalism” materials plus essay responses to questions regarding an unprofessional patient note, a photograph of a physician-patient interaction, and two end-of-life issues (brain death and Alzheimer disease) followed by a faculty-led discussion of the essays, pertinent personal experiences, the definition of professionalism, the role of a doctor, and the influence of cognitive biases in clinical decision-making.
Traditional Experiential Curriculum
- Clinical Services. On orientation day, students are assigned to two 2-week rotations based on their stated career goals, including at least 1 inpatient rotation (OU General Neurology, OU Stroke, OU Neurosciences ICU, Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Neurology Consults, and/or VA Neurology) and some students may be assigned to a 2-week clinic rotation (OU Health Physicians Neurology Clinic, Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Pediatric Neurology Clinic, or the VA Medical Center Neurology Clinic). Students follow their own patients and attend inpatient team rounds weekdays plus one weekend day.
- Call. Students take call on 4 days—three weekdays from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm and one weekend day starting from at or after am and ending at 8:00 pm. (Any student assigned to a clinic rotation will have an extra 6-hour weekend call once.)
- Clinics. Any student assigned to two inpatient rotations, i.e., those who do not have a 2-week clinic rotation, also attend VA Medical Center Neurology Clinic with resident physicians 1 afternoon during the clerkship.