Child Neurology Residency Clinical Training

For more than 50 years, the Child Neurology Residency program in the Department of Neurology at Indiana University School of Medicine has taught the next generation of child neurologists. Residents train at Riley Hospital for Children, one of the oldest and largest children's hospitals in Indiana. There, residents work to improve the health of patients and community from Indianapolis, the state of Indiana and the Midwest region through innovation, excellence in care of diverse populations, education, research and service. The Child Neurology Residency program matches with two residents each year, and trainees spend the first two years of the five-year program in the Department of Pediatrics, followed by the remaining three years training with pediatric neurologists.

Clinical Experience with Specialty Experts

The department has more than 20 pediatric neurology faculty physicians—the largest group of child neurologists in the state of Indiana—who train residents in various neurologic specialties, including epilepsy, headache, neurogenetics (neurofibromatosis), neuromuscular disorders, neonatal neurology, spasticity and cerebral palsy, stroke and tuberosis sclerosis. Time is also spent training with adult neurology faculty in the academic health center at IU Health. The partnership between adult and child neurology allows for intensive educational experiences as well as unique opportunities, such as a two-month neuroanatomy rotation the beginning of the second year. The program focuses on clinical training with a mixture of didactics and extensive clinical experience. Residents actively participate in research and are involved in the education initiatives of the department. Over the past two decades, the Child Neurology Residency program has exponentially grown. They now house several multi-disciplinary clinical programs and are fully integrated into institution-wide programs such as Neuro NICU and formal educational programs of numerous other departments.

Clinical Locations

Riley Hospital for Children is the primary training institution for child neurology residents. Riley has been recognized as a top tier children's hospital by U.S. News & World Report for several years and is Indiana's only nationally ranked children's hospital. It is the preeminent tertiary/quaternary referral hospital for pediatric patients in the state of Indiana. The neurology program at Riley is also the only nationally ranked pediatric neurology program in the state, according to U.S. News & World Report. Residents also rotate at Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital—the county hospital for Indianapolis and Marion County—the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Hospital and the IU Health Neuroscience Center outpatient clinic—a state-of-the-art outpatient center that unites all specialties and departments that involve neuroscience.

Academic Conferences

Child Neurology Grand Rounds

Weekly conferences that include interesting cases by the ward team, resident lecture series and expert review of various child neurology topics.
Board Review Conference

Weekly conferences with board review as the primary goal. Topics often seen on the RITE examination and neurology boards are covered. Non-traditional teaching techniques such as jeopardy are often used. Content is flexible to adjust for areas of need among the residents.
"What's Your Diagnosis?"

Monthly chairman-style case discussion.
Book Club

Monthly review of chosen topics, often adult neurology.
Neurology Grand Rounds

Weekly conferences, including QA, expert review of topics and research presentations.
Neuroradiology Conference

Bimonthly discussion of interesting cases with the pediatric neuroradiology team.
Friday Didactics

Two-hour lecture series developed by Adult Neurology Residency.
Journal Club

Quarterly meetings with residents and faculty. A fun, social event held at a faculty member's home.