Subspecialty Tracks

Duke Child Neurology offers several subspecialty tracks within the child neurology residency which are available for interested residents.

These tracks are completely optional and offer the opportunity for residents to achieve a greater depth of clinical experience and research opportunity in a specific subspecialty within child neurology during residency, as well as, placement into an ACGME-approved subspecialty fellowship at Duke upon completion of their child neurology training. Residents can pick a track if desired during their PGY 3 year of training.

Epilepsy Track

The goal of the epilepsy track is to provide early career development including clinical experience and research opportunity to those residents interested in pursuing pediatric epilepsy as their field of subspecialty expertise. Those residents enrolled in the epilepsy track will have 12 months of the following electives:

  • Clinical Neurophysiology: Electroencephalogram, Sleep, Evoked Potential (three months)
  • Epilepsy and ICU Continuous EEG Monitoring/Intraoperative Monitoring (three months)
    *During this three month period, residents will attend epilepsy clinic weekly for added clinical exposure.
  • Neuroradiology: Emphasis on neuroimaging used in the diagnostic and presurgical evaluation of epilepsy (one month)
  • Neuropathology: Emphasis on those conditions associated with epilepsy, including but not limited to, mesial temporal sclerosis, congenital brain malformation, neurocutaneous disorders, autoimmune encephalitis, etc. (one month)
  • Neurodevelopment/Behavior: Includes exposure to neuropsychometric testing (one month)
  • Child Psychiatry (mandatory per American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology) (one month)
  • Clinical Research Elective:  Attend seminars on evidenced-based medicine, study design, clinical trials, statistics, grant writing, and laboratory methodology, as well as development of a research project in epilepsy to be completed upon graduation from residency (one month)
  • Exposure to neurosurgical procedures pertaining to epilepsy surgery will be provided over the entire two to three years, with the goal of seeing at least one of each of the typical neurosurgical procedures performed on epilepsy patients (hemispherectomy, focal resection, temporal lobectomy, corpus callosotomy, VNS placement, Wada test, etc.).
  • Didactic lectures given or attended by the resident will be tailored to fit the emphasis of the track.

Note: Although the goal of the epilepsy track is to provide a focused emphasis on pediatric epilepsy, a conscious effort is made to continue to offer a broad exposure to the other aspects of pediatric neurology during training.

Upon completion of their child neurology training, residents in this track will automatically be transitioned into the Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship at Duke pending their performance during their child neurology residency. A second year fellowship in Pediatric Epilepsy is also available if the trainee wishes to pursue further research/clinical training.

Neuromuscular Track

The goal of the neuromuscular track is to provide early career development including clinical experience and research opportunity to those residents interested in pursuing pediatric neuromuscular medicine as their field of subspecialty expertise. Those residents enrolled in the neuromuscular track will have 12 months of the following electives: 

  • Electromyography (six months)
    *During this six month period, the resident will attend Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Clinic weekly for added clinical exposure.
  • Neuromuscular Medicine:  Attend both Child and Adult Neuromuscular Clinic, Dermatomyositis Clinic, Spasticity Clinic, ALS Clinic, as well as perform muscle and skin biopsies (two months)
  • Genetics and Metabolism: Special emphasis on genetic and metabolic disorders in neuromuscular disease (one month)
  • Neuropathology: Emphasis on muscle and nerve pathology (one month)
  • Child Psychiatry (mandatory per American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology) (one month)
  • Clinical Research Elective:  Attend seminars on evidenced-based medicine, study design, clinical trials, statistics, grant writing, and laboratory methodology, as well as development of a research project in neuromuscular medicine to be completed upon graduation from residency (one month)
  • Didactic lectures given or attended by the resident will be tailored to fit the emphasis of the track.

Note: Although the goal of the neuromuscular track is to provide a focused emphasis on pediatric neuromuscular medicine, a conscious effort is made to continue to offer a broad exposure to the other aspects of pediatric neurology during training.

Upon completion of their child neurology training, residents in this track will automatically be transitioned into the Neuromuscular Fellowship at Duke pending their performance during their child neurology residency. A second year fellowship in Neuromuscular Medicine/Advanced EMG is also available if the trainee wishes to pursue further research/clinical training.

Sleep Medicine Track

The goal of the sleep medicine track is to provide early career development including clinical experience and research opportunity to those residents interested in pursuing pediatric sleep medicine as their field of subspecialty expertise. Residents enrolled in the sleep medicine track will have 12 months of the following electives:

  • Polysomnography/Electroencephalography/Evoked Potentials (four months)
  • Epilepsy and ICU Continuous EEG Monitoring/Intraoperative Monitoring (two months)
    *During this 6 month period, the resident will attend sleep medicine clinic weekly for added clinical exposure
  • Child Psychiatry (mandatory per American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology) (one month)
  • Clinical Research Elective:  Attend seminars on evidenced-based medicine, study design, clinical trials, statistics, grant writing, and laboratory methodology, as well as development of a research project in sleep medicine to be completed upon graduation from residency (one month)
  • Four months of elective
  • Didactic lectures given or attended by the resident will be tailored to fit the emphasis of the track.

Note: Although the goal of the sleep medicine track is to provide a focused emphasis on pediatric sleep medicine, a conscious effort is made to continue to offer a broad exposure to the other aspects of pediatric neurology during training.

Upon completion of their child sleep medicine training, residents in this track will automatically be transitioned into the Sleep Medicine Fellowship at Duke pending their performance during their child neurology residency. A second year fellowship Clinical Neurophysiology or Pediatric Epilepsy is also available if the trainee wishes to pursue further research/clinical training. 

Fetal and Neonatal Neurology Track

The goal of the Fetal and Neonatal Neurology track is to provide early career exposure to and expertise in conditions impacting the fetal and neonatal brain. Residents enrolled in the Fetal and Neonatal Neurology track will have 12 months of the following electives:

  • Inpatient neuro-critical care service (2 months – in addition to expected requirements)
  • ICU Continuous EEG Monitoring (2 months
  • Neuroradiology (1 month): Focus on fetal MRI, neonatal brain MRI, and neonatal head ultrasound
  • Fetal and neonatal neurology clinic (6 months longitudinal experience, *not required to attend while on inpatient services)
  • Palliative Care (1 month): Join neonatal palliative care team for one month, as well as impatient and outpatient perinatal palliative care consults
  • Developmental follow-up clinic: Attend NICU follow-up, neurocardiac, and cerebral palsy clinics (1 month)
  • Child Psychiatry (mandatory per American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology) (1 month): Focus on assessment and treatment of neuro-irritability, delirium, and agitation
  • Clinical Research Elective:  Attend seminars on evidenced-based medicine, study design, clinical trials, statistics, grant writing, ethics, and laboratory methodology, as well as development of a research project in fetal or neonatal neurology to be completed upon graduation from residency (1 month)
  • Three months of elective
  • Didactic lectures given or attended by the resident will be tailored to fit the emphasis of the track. In addition to relevant pediatric or adult neurology learning opportunities, emphasis will be placed on attending interdisciplinary didactics in the fields of ethics, palliative care, maternal fetal medicine, neonatology, developmental pediatrics, neurosurgery, and neuroradiology.

Note: Although the goal of the Fetal and Neonatal track is to provide a focused emphasis on fetal and neonatal neurology, a conscious effort is made to continue to offer a broad exposure to the other aspects of pediatric neurology during training. Residents in this track will be well prepared to transition into a fetal and/or neonatal neurology fellowship at the conclusion of residency.

Research Track

The goal of the research track is to provide early career development/mentoring to residents who are interested in pursuing an academic research career. This track will provide the skills, collaborations, and time needed to develop a research interest and offer an opportunity for the collection of pilot data from which future grants may then be developed. MD/PhD candidates or those candidates with strong prior research experience are preferred for this track. Acceptance into this track and the curriculum once enrolled will be individualized for each candidate. Residents on this track may have up to nine months of elective time to devote to research (depending upon the project that is being proposed and program director approval.) 

If you have additional questions, please contact:

Carolyn Pizoli, MD
Program Director
carolyn.pizoli@duke.edu