Neurology Education

The Department of Neurology in NNI is committed to the teaching of Clinical Neurology. Teaching is conducted across six NNI locations, including NNI@TTSH, NNI@SGH, NNI@CGH, NNI@SKH, NNI@KTPH and NNI@WH. Teaching is coordinated by the Office of Neurological Education at NNI.

Teaching for Medical Students

The National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) is involved in teaching at all three medical schools in Singapore, namely Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. The clinicians teach in the pre-clinical neuroscience courses, general medicine and neurology clinical rotations, and neurology elective modules. The teaching focuses on integrating basic neuroscience with clinical neurology to train practicing physicians.

Medical students are also able to participate in neurology research projects, supervised by their mentors from the department as part of an elective module or part of their research year.

Training for Residents in Internal Medicine

Neurology is a core rotation for internal medicine training. NNI trains residents from SingHealth and the NHG Health Internal Medicine Residency Programmes. Training is conducted through lectures, clinical tutorials, and case discussion rounds. Complex cases and management problems are discussed during weekly grand rounds. Residents are exposed to inpatient and ambulatory care.

All residents in the Internal Medicine Residency Programme go through a structured series of clinically focused core lectures. During the weekly bedside tutorials, they go through the finer points of neurological examination. Cases that are more complicated are discussed at the weekly case discussion Grand Rounds.

Training for Senior Residents in Neurology

NNI runs two Senior Residency Programmes in Neurology at TTSH and SGH, where senior residents receive foundational training in General Neurology and gain exposure to different subspecialties. They undergo training in neurophysiology, which includes reading and interpreting Electroencephalogram, performing electrophysiology, nerve conduction studies and needle Electromyography (EMG). Training is conducted through lectures, small group teachings, journal clubs, case discussion rounds, and projects. Senior residents actively participate in managing inpatients, outpatients and provide diagnostic input to other specialties as part of their training. Complex cases and management problems are discussed during the weekly case discussion Grand Rounds. In addition, senior residents participate in teaching and scholarly activities as part of holistic training. Subspecialty training is conducted through intra- and inter-department subspecialty case discussion rounds and lectures. Visiting HMDP experts from around the world are invited regularly to teach at NNI. 

NNI organises/co-organises several internationally recognised courses / conferences regularly, including conferences for Stroke, Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorders, Neurocognition, EEG-Neuromuscular, Neuro-Ophthalmology and Neuroradiology.

Training for Other Residents

Neurology is a core or elective rotation for a number of other residency programmes. The NNI trains residents from the Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Advanced Internal Medicine residency programmes too. The residents in Neurology are also given the opportunity to participate and contribute to the regular teaching sessions for residents in other programmes.

Office of Neurological Education

With NNI's strong tradition in teaching, the Office of Neurological Education (ONE) was set up in 2004 to coordinate undergraduate and postgraduate education and training activities in the Department of Neurology. We host pre-medical students from schools and colleges who want to gain exposure to healthcare through clinical attachments in the hospital. We also host elective students, from local and overseas medical schools who are interested in learning more about neurological diseases.

For postgraduate trainees preparing for the MMed/MRCP (UK) examinations, we conduct a Neurology PACES course twice a year. This course allows trainees to learn about common neurological conditions at the bedside in small groups and is designed to enhance the trainee’s clinical skills, critical analysis and communication skills.

Medical Education Research and Scholarship is an essential element for developing and improving our education efforts. The Neurology Education Research Division (NERD) was set up in 2009 to coordinate and conduct neurology education research. Our current research projects focus mainly on team-based learning, innovations in neurology teaching, assessments in neurology and clinical reasoning.