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Faculty of Health Sciences

Department of Pediatrics

Pediatric Neurology Residency Program

David Callen
Pediatric Neurology Residency Program Director

Message from the Pediatric Neurology Residency Program Director

McMaster University’s Pediatric Neurology Residency Program strives to maintain a flexible and non-threatening, lifestyle-friendly learning environment that allows trainees to pursue a variety of career paths, ranging from community pediatric neurology to academic medicine.

Pediatric Neurology Overview

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Program Overview

Training takes place at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. The hospital has 142 acute care beds and serves a diverse population, drawing from the regional referral base of 2.3 million population in south central Ontario. There are approximately 3,000 outpatient visits to the pediatric neurology clinics each year.

A specific area of interest in our program is children with epilepsy. Residents participate in our complex pediatric epilepsy program, which provides intensive management for patients with intractable seizures.

Another exceptional component at McMaster University Medical Centre is the state-of-the-art neuromuscular clinic. This facility utilizes bench-to-bedside neuromuscular analysis, with hundreds of muscle biopsies performed each year. It also includes a complete exercise laboratory. Almost 1,000 electromyographs and nerve conduction studies are done each year.

Training in other aspects of neurophysiology is also available, including EEG and evoked potentials.

Developmental training is completed at the Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre, which is a multidisciplinary outpatient rehabilitation centre in Hamilton. Residents participate in specialty neurodevelopmental clinics, such as the spasticity clinic and Botox clinic, and spend time in the cutting-edge motion analysis laboratory.

Adult neurology training takes place at the Hamilton General Hospital and Juravinski Hospital. Residents gain exposure to adult neurology through rotations on the clinical teaching unit, at outpatient subspecialty clinics such as stroke prevention, movement disorders, headache, multiple sclerosis, and ALS, and by participating in ‘code stroke’ consultations.

Expandable List

Applicants are encouraged to have previous elective experience in pediatric neurology, general pediatrics, and adult neurology. Broad exposure to a variety of disciplines during undergraduate training is also important.

Every applicant’s file is thoroughly reviewed by the program director, who invites 9-12 applicants for interviews. The major factor in determining which candidates to interview is their interest in pediatric neurology, as evidenced by any of the following: a pre-medicine involvement in the field, electives in pediatric neurology, or participation in child neurology related research.

Applications are processed through CaRMS. Please visit the CaRMS website for application deadline information.

McMaster Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) provides an environment where learners can develop the skills to become expert physicians and leaders in health care.

Q: Do you accept international applicants?

A: No. Although we thank all candidates for their interest and commitment to pediatric neurology training and services, at this time, due to limited space, only Canadian citizens, permanent residents or landed immigrants can apply. McMaster’s Pediatric Neurology Residency Program does not accept international medical graduates.

Q: How many applications do you receive?

A: The pediatric neurology training program at McMaster receives 10-15 applicants each year for one Canadian medical graduate position.

Nero Education

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General Expectations

Residents can expect exceptional training in an environment that supports their well-being and that ultimately prepares them to pursue their desired career path in pediatric neurology.

Goals and Competencies

Transition to Discipline: Orientation Period

The first few blocks of training provide new residents with the opportunity to achieve their first Entrustable Professional Activities in a supportive, non-threatening environment. Residents begin as a junior member of the neurology team seeing inpatient consults as well as children in outpatient clinics. At the same time, residents complete a “boot camp” to gain all the basic skills for residency.

Foundations of Discipline: Junior Resident

This phase of training exposes residents to children in many different settings, including: outpatient, acute care, inpatient, and intensive care. Residents learn how to manage patients with common pediatric issues, gain exposure to managing neurological emergencies, and spend additional time seeing child neurology patients developing an approach to common neurological problems.

Residents also participate in 12 weeks of structured self-directed learning about the fundamentals of neuroanatomy and the neurosciences. This includes a mixture of independent study and didactic sessions with neuroanatomy staff and neuroscientists.

Core of Discipline: Neurology Resident

Residents spend their time in pediatric neurology, pediatric neurology subspecialties (i.e., epilepsy, neuromuscular, etc.), and related specialties (i.e., adult neurology, developmental pediatrics, neurosurgery, palliative care, etc.). The focus is on achieving competence in the core skills of a pediatric neurologist.

Transition to Practice: Junior Attending

Residents are supported to learn how to function as an independent pediatric neurologist. The learning environment is personalized to the resident’s unique career trajectory. That is, residents interested in pursuing a career in academia will gain experience running a team, reviewing consults, teaching, providing feedback, and mentoring. Residents interested in community positions will spend more time working with community pediatric neurologists in community clinics and hospitals, and focus on running an independent practice.

Nero Research

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Research Opportunities

Residents are annually allotted four weeks of protected research time and a half-day every second week devoted to research. The expectation is that a significant research project will be undertaken or multiple smaller projects will be created and progress will be made throughout training. For those residents not interested in pursuing academic research, formal quality improvement projects or education projects can be substituted.

Neuro Contact Us

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Contact Us

We invite you to learn more about the Pediatric Neurology Residency Program and the opportunities that are available at McMaster University. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Faculty Directory

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David Callen

Pediatric Neurology Residency Program Director

Faculty

dcallen@mcmaster.ca McMaster Experts Profile

Staff Directory

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Roxanne Ali

Administrative Assistant, Pediatric Neurology Residency Program

neuroped@mcmaster.ca