Welcome
This fellowship will provide the trainee with a wide experience in neuromuscular disease with an emphasis on disorders of the peripheral nervous system. The primary diseases treated through the PNC include CIDP and CMT. We also see patients with HSP/SPG, SPS, ALS, SFN, dysimmune neuropathies, and plexopathies.
Certification Outcome
The successful completion of the fellowship will grant a McMaster Fellowship Certification.
Entry Requirements
The fellowship program is designed for current residents or recent graduates of neurology or physical medicine & rehabilitation. Recent graduates are required to submit an application form and comply with McMaster University Postgraduate Medical Education requirements for residents and fellows.
Application Deadline
November 30th annually.
Goals of Training
The goals of the fellowship are to enhance the consultant’s skills and experience in diagnosing and managing diseases of the PNS and related disorders. Electrodiagnostic competency will be established through interaction with our expert technologist and by completing independently supervised NCS/EMG consults. It is expected that the successful fellow will challenge the Canadian Society for Clinical Neurophysiology certification exam in the Spring of their final year. Four hundred studies are required to be eligible for the examination.
Length of Training
1-2 years (contingent on funding).
Funding
There are no funds available through McMaster University.
Curriculum Highlights
The curriculum is open to the particular needs and interests of the applicant. The majority of the clinical experience will be with Dr. Steven K. Baker in the Peripheral Nerve Clinic where the clinical emphasis will be on acquired and hereditary diseases of the peripheral nervous system. Opportunities will also be available with other neurologists or neuropathologists according to their scheduling allowances.
The approximate curriculum will be as follows:
- 8-12 weeks of Inpatient MSK Rehabilitation at the Juravinski Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario.
- 6 months of Outpatient Musculoskeletal Clinics with various Physiatrists at Hamilton Health Sciences as well as Community Physiatrists affiliated with McMaster University.
- 4 weeks of Interventional Physiatry (includes exposure to epidural nerve blocks, facet joint blocks, spinal stimulator assessments, etc).
We offer competency-based training, similar to that recently introduced into the PM&R Residency Program. The settings will include bedside teaching, one on one teaching sessions, outpatient clinics, multi-disciplinary Team Rounds, attendance of weekly Academic Half Day for the PM&R Residents (with opportunities to present/lead sessions), and monthly attendance of PM&R Grand Rounds (with opportunities to present). Conference attendance at McMaster University and nearby Universities in the relevant subject matter will also be encouraged.
Fellows will be encouraged to pursue individual research and/or join an ongoing research project. The goal will be a publication/submission of research at the end of the Fellowship year.
Supervision & Feedback
The primary mode of evaluation will be through routine weekly interactions with the supervisor in addition to regular PGME evaluations.
More formally, the fellow will be expected to complete the AANEM Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Self-Assessment Examinations. These are 3-hour examinations which include some video analyses.