Medical Education

The provision of clinical care in the Department of Neurology provides an opportunity for vertical integration into student education in the baccalaureate medical degree program at the UMKC School of Medicine. The goal is to have neurology faculty engaged with the docent units early in the medical education process with continued exposure in basic neuroscience and in clinical neurology rotations.

Basic Science Courses

Neurology clinical faculty are actively engaged in teaching neurology in the early years of medical school. This includes involvement in courses like the Year 3 Medical Neuroscience course, the Clinical Practice of Medicine, Clinical Correlations and others.

Neurology Elective Rotations (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6)

We offer several elective rotations in neurology. Dr. Koirala supervises medical students in these rotations. Rotations are provided in the following list with a brief description.

Neurology Clinical Clerkship

Elective rotation: This clerkship is approved for students in years 3-6. Medical students will rotate on both the inpatient consultation service and will participate in the neurology multi-specialty clinic at University Health Truman Medical Center. Medical students will be part of a team that includes resident physicians and other allied health professionals working under the direction of the neurology clinical faculty.

Rotating Resident Medical Education

The department provides resident education to clinicians in the following areas:

Psychiatry Resident Physicians

UMKC psychiatry residents participate in clinical neurology services in the Center for Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience at University Health Truman Medical Center. These resident physicians are supervised by our neurology clinical faculty and participate in in-patient and out-patient care. Residents are supervised by Dr. Gratton.

Internal Medicine Resident Physicians

UMKC internal medicine resident physicians rotate at University Health Truman Medical Center, where they are supervised by Dr. Gratton and other faculty.

Family Medicine Resident Physicians

UMKC family medicine resident physicians rotate on the neurology clinical service at University Health Truman Medical Center. These resident physicians are supervised by Dr. Donohoe.

Clinical Pharmacology Residents/Fellows in Psychiatry

The Pharm.D. clinical neuropsychiatry pharmacology fellow rotates in clinical neurology at University Health  Truman Medical Center. This fellow is supervised by Dr. Donohoe.

Resident Evaluations

Resident physicians are evaluated in six focus areas that include:

  1. Patient care and procedural skills
  2. Medical knowledge
  3. Practice-based learning and improvement
  4. Interpersonal and communication skills
  5. Professionalism
  6. Systems-based practice

At the beginning of the clinical rotation, resident physicians are oriented to clinical service and learn about  competency-based goals and objectives. Regularly scheduled didactic sessions, such as case conferences, resident seminar, neuro-radiology case conference and a journal club are included in this rotation. 

Resident physicians and fellows must provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health.

Residents must be able to competently perform the neurological examination and will learn to manage patients with complex neurological problems. Residents will be directly supervised by the neurology clinical faculty.