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The Department of Neurology is strongly committed to the teaching of Clinical Neurology. This is coordinated by the department's Office of Neurological Education.
A comprehensive programme has been developed for medical officers and trainees posted to the Department on 6-monthly rotations. This includes lectures, weekly clinical tutorials and mortality rounds. Complex cases and management problems are discussed during weekly grand rounds. There are also journal club discussions organised for the advanced trainees in neurology.
Teaching Programme for Basic Trainees
 NNI core lectures
 Neurology updates
 Weekly Grand Rounds
Weekly Case Discussion
All basic medical trainees and medical officers go through a structured series of core lectures on the neurosciences, grounding them in the basics of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Neuroradiology. A weekly Grand Round is conducted to discuss complicated cases, followed by MO teaching rounds during which the fundamentals of neurological clinical examination are emphasised.
Teaching Programme for Advanced Trainees
 Structures lectures in:
 Movement Disorders
 Electrophysiology (EMG and EEG)
 Neuromuscular Disorders
 Monthly Neuromuscular rounds
 Weekly Neuroradiology rounds
 Monthly journal clubs
 Monthly hospital conference
Advanced trainees in Neurology are rotated through different subspecialties of Neurology. They undergo year-long training in EEG reading and interpretation, with dedicated sessions on normal and abnormal EEGs. Trainees are also attached to both the Botox and Movement Disorders Clinics, where teaching sessions are supplemented by video recordings of patients with Movement Disorders.
Cases presented in the monthly Neuromuscular rounds are correlated with muscle biopsies and clinico-pathological findings. Trainees also undergo hands-on training in electrophysiology, nerve conduction studies and needle EMGs.
Weekly Neuroradiology rounds are conducted as a conjoined clinico-pathologico-radiology conference with neurologists, neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists. Monthly journal clubs are also conducted with topics rotating between different neurology subspecialties. For continuing medical education, visiting HMDP experts from around the world are invited to lecture and teach at the NNI.
Office of Neurological Education
With a strong tradition in teaching, the Office of Neurological Education (ONE) was set up in 2004 to coordinate education and training activities in the Department of Neurology at NNI-TTSH Campus.
Pre-medical students from top junior colleges regularly gain exposure through clinical attachments in the hospital wards, daily rounds and journal clubs. Medical students from the National University of Singapore undergo a comprehensive programme during their second, third and final year postings with intensive lectures, bedside teaching and clinical ward rounds. Elective students, from local and overseas medical schools, have further opportunities to be acquainted with a wide array of neurological diseases.
Post-graduate teaching remains a priority in our effort to promote life-long medical education. Workshops for house officers were conducted with emphasis on neurological emergencies, investigations and therapeutics. For trainees preparing for MRCP (UK) examinations, courses were organised thrice annually, in small groups of not more than ten, to enhance their clinical skills and approaches to common neurological conditions. Ethics and communications were also emphasised.
Together with the programmes for basic and advanced trainees, ONE is committed to maintaining the high standards of medical professionals in providing care to our patients with neurological diseases.
Office of Clinical Studies
Cognizant of the fact that clinical researchers must be nurtured within the department to be able to regularly attract research grants and industry-sponsored trials, the Office of Clinical Studies (OCS) was created in 2004 under the Department of Neurology of NNI @ TTSH to facilitate, support, and stimulate a research culture within the department by providing manpower and infrastructure for the conduct of clinical studies.
The OCS currently supports the conduct of several clinical trials and investigator-initiated clinical studies in stroke, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. The OCS also coordinates the NNI Research Seminar Series, which is held regularly and attracts participants from different institutions interested in learning the basics of clinical research.
Research
Monthly research seminars that emphasise basic neuroscience are organised to help clinicians understand cellular and molecular biology, so as to link ongoing cutting-edge research to clinical practice. |