PEDIATRIC EPILEPSY FELLOWSHIP CURRICULUM

The Epilepsy Fellowship Program is a 1-year program that includes inpatient and outpatient experience in the following areas:
  • Clinical epilepsy 
  • Related Disorders 
  • Work up and treatments
  • EEG
    • Routine
    • Inpatient and Outpatient
    • Ambulatory
    • Inpatient video-EEG monitoring,
    • ICU
    • Intracranial EEG monitoring
  • Presurgical evaluation of epilepsy
  • Peripheral and central neurostimulatory devices,
  • Exposure to imaging modalities
    • CT scan
    • MRI
    • PET
    • ictal SPECT
    • fMRI
  • Neuropsychological testing

  • Pediatric Epilepsy Fellows will be expected to participate in the epilepsy clinics, reading EEG/ICU EEGs, EMU/LTM, and ICEEGs as well as presenting patients regularly in the weekly surgical epilepsy conference.

  • Epilepsy clinic occurs one to two half days per week and is attended by a pediatric epileptologists.

    During the clinic experience, fellows are required to have completed the following duties:

    1. See both new patients and returning patients
    2. Fully evaluate patients to formulate a diagnosis of the paroxysmal disorder, come up with a diagnostic evaluation and treatment plan, and each patient will be staffed
    3. Complete outpatient clinic notes
    4. Follow-up with diagnosing testing results
    5. Respond to patient phone calls as directed by the MAs to them

  • The PCH outpatient EEG laboratory is on 3rd floor of Eccles building and will have a rotating reading schedule (weekly attending reader) that will be updated on a quarterly basis throughout the year. Everyday there will be one EEG attending on duty for non-urgent EEGs. The fellow is expected to read all the routine and non-urgent 24-hour overnight EEGs during the time that is allocated to the EEG reading time.

    During the EEG laboratory experiences fellows are required to have completed the following
    duties:

    1. Observe EEGs with technicians
    2. Perform EEG electrode application with supervision by technicians
    3. Observe two Wada tests and two TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) sessions
    4. Pre-read neonatal and pediatrics EEGs (outpatient, PSG/EEG combos, RTU EEGs),ambulatory EEGs, and prepare a report
    5. Pre-read EEG –part of all Wada tests and prepare a report

  • There are 9 portable units, and 2 intracranial units can be requested by other units in the PCH (including Infant Medical/Surgical unit, Children’s Medical Unit, Children’s Surgical Unit, NeuroTrauma Unit, Rapid Treatment Unit, Pediatric ICU, Neonatal ICU or Cancer/Transplant Unit) for inpatient video-EEG monitoring.

    During ICU EEG experience fellows are required to have completed the following duties:

    1. Pre-read pediatrics and neonatal ICU-EEGs, and prepare a reports
    2. Interact with the ICU and inpatient neurology team

  • The Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) is located in the Pod D of NeuroTrauma Unit (NTU) in PCH. It has 4 rooms that are designated for Epilepsy Monitoring.

    During the EMU rotation fellows are required to have completed the following duties:

    1. Pre-read all scalp video-EEGs and make a reports
    2. Become familiar and gain expertise in different electro-clinical syndromes by interacting with patients and become familiar and gain expertise in Antiepileptic medication usage by adjusting patients daily AEDs
    3. Interact with the neurology residents about the changes in patient’s antiepileptic medication regimen and plan
    4. Pre-read all invasive intracranial EEGs and prepare a report5.Interact with the neurosurgery/PICU/NICU residents about the changes in patient’s antiepileptic medication regimen and plan
    5. Participate in decision to implant the location of intracranial electrode location and making the montage
    6. Participate in bed site cortical mapping/presurgical localization of eloquent cortex and prepare report
    7. Participate in bedside extra operative motor mapping using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
    8. Participate in intraoperative speech and motor mapping and central sulcus identification
    9. Participate in intraoperative electrocorticography and spike hunting
    10. Participate in determination of the area to be resected and be present in the OR during critical parts of resection

  • CONFERENCE

    FREQUENCY

    WEEKDAY

    TIME
    *Pediatric Neurology Ground Rounds

    Weekly

    Wednesday

    12:00-1:00 PM
    Pediatric Neurology Division Meeting

    Monthly

    Wednesday

    10:15-11:30 AM
    *Pediatric Epilepsy Management Conference

    Weekly

    Monday

    8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
    *EEG Review Conference

    Weekly

    Thursday

    12:00-1:00pm
    Pediatric Grand Rounds

    Weekly (Sept-May)

    Thursday

    08:00-09:00 AM
    Pediatric Research In Progress

    Weekly (Sept-April)

    Friday

    12:00-1:00 PM
    Resident-led Pediatric Morbidity and Mortality Conference

    Weekly

    Tuesday

    12:00-1:00 PM
    John Carey Foundations Series (JCFS)

    Weekly (Sept-June)

    Thursday

    12:00-1:00 PM
    *Safety & QI Activities

    VARIES
    *Clinical Neurophysiology / Epilepsy Fellow Lecture

    Weekly

    Fridays

    12:00-1:00 PM
    Epilepsy Pipeline

    Monthly

    Mondays

    10:30-11:30 AM
    Epilepsy Surgical Case Conference

    Bi-Monthly

    Mondays

    9:30 - 10:30 AM
    *Epilepsy Journal Club 

    Monthly

    Thursday

    12:00 -1:00 PM
    Neurology Grand Rounds

    Weekly

    Wednesday

    9:00 -10:00 AM
    American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Meeting

    Annual (April)
    American Epilepsy Society (AES) Meeting

    Annual (December)
    Epilepsy Symposium

    Annual (March)
    Child Neurology Society (CNS) Meeting 

    Annual (October)

    *Mandatory for Pediatric Epilepsy Fellows