Program Description

The Rush University Department of Neurological Sciences' Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Four positions are offered each year to eligible candidates who have completed an LCME accredited neurology residency program.

As defined by the ACGME, "clinical neurophysiology is an area of medicine in which selected neurological disorders involving central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems and muscles are assessed, monitored, and treated using a combination of clinical evaluation and electrophysiological testing. A derangement of the normal physiology of the nervous system underlies these selected disorders, and an assessment of the electrophysiological abnormalities is an integral part of the evaluation process. Clinical neurophysiology requires a detailed knowledge of the normal physiology of the nervous system; the altered, abnormal electrophysiology; and the disease states involved."

Sites
The primary site for the fellowship is Rush University Medical Center, where fellows rotate through the EMG lab, Neuromuscular clinic, EEG lab, inpatient video/EEG monitoring unit, Epilepsy clinic and Sleep Center. Evoked potential interpretation is also performed at Rush. Affiliated institutions are the John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where fellows have an opportunity to perform EMG studies on patients who present to a large public hospital. Single fiber EMG (SFEMG) experience is supplemented at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).