The neurology clerkship at the University of Michigan Medical School is a required four-week experience in the second year. The goal is to teach students the principles and skills underlying the recognition and management of the neurological diseases that a general medical practitioner is most likely to encounter in practice. Further discussion of the core curriculum for the neurology clerkship is available at the American Academy of Neurology website.
Knowledge
- Recognition of which symptoms and signs suggest neurologic disease
- Ability to localize the region(s) in the nervous system where malfunction could produce a given constellation of symptoms and signs
- Ability to generate a differential diagnosis for a given constellation of symptoms and signs
- Ability to decide which diagnostic tests will narrow the differential
- Familiarity with clinical features of the most commonly encountered neurologic conditions: cerebrovascular disease, seizures, headaches, back pain, incontinence, visual symptoms, disequilibrium, dementia, movement disorders, neuromuscular disease and acute mental status changes
Skills
- Ability to elicit historical information relevant to a patient’s symptoms to identify and characterize neurologic disease
- Ability to perform a neurologic examination and to identify significant abnormalities
- Ability to deliver a concise, logically organized and complete presentation (both oral and written) of a patient’s history and physical, with a discussion of localization, differential diagnosis, diagnostic plan and treatment plan
Procedures
- Learn to perform a lumbar puncture and interpret the results. Note: The ability to interpret lumbar puncture results is a primary goal of the clerkship. The ability to perform a lumbar puncture is a secondary goal, to be accomplished if possible, but it is not a requirement