Program Highlights
UMass Chan Medical School's comprehensive learning experience is tailored to the fellow's clinical and research interest.
The clinical experience is provided through UMass Memorial Medical Center. As the largest comprehensive Movement Disorders Clinic in the region, we see a wide breadth of common and rare conditions. Our approach is patient-centered and interdisciplinary. We collaborate closely with neuropsychiatry, neuropsychology, rehabilitation therapists (physical occupational, speech), palliative care and social work.
Our fellowship program provides a friendly training environment with the flexibility to focus on multiple elective opportunities and research endeavors. Our physicians are dedicated to mentorship and education.
Our training environment includes:
- Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Clinic.
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Huntington’s Disease Society of America Center of Excellence Partner Site with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
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Deep brain stimulation surgery program, with opportunities to train in intra-operative electrophysiology.
- A dedicated botulinum toxin injection lab with EG and ultrasound guidance.
Curriculum:
We encourage the fellow to attend regional or national society meetings and to present their work. We support the fellow attending the Aspen Course sponsored by the International Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorders Society.
Fellows participate in weekly division meetings, didactic lectures, research, and case discussions. These experiences will allow the fellow to advance their teaching skills, learn and disseminate the approach to the diagnosis of movement disorders through video case rounds, and hone their presentation skills for research and scholarly work. The curriculum specifically consists of:
- Monthly journal club led by fellow.
- Monthly video case rounds led by fellow.
- Monthly didactic lecture prepared by a fellow on core movement disorders topics.
- Participation in weekly division meetings covering a variety of clinical and research topics.
- The opportunity to present resident lectures and instruct medical students.
Rotations
The UMass Movement Disorders Fellowship provides intensive outpatient-based clinical training with close attending supervision. The fellow will see 6-8 follow-up and 4-6 new patients each week. The fellow will have exposure to a variety of movement disorders including PD, dystonia, tremor, autonomic disorders, choreiform disorders, ataxia and gait disorders. Since UMass is the only academic Movement Disorders center in Central Massachusetts, drawing patients from a large geographic region, the fellow will benefit from a large and diverse patient population with both common and rare conditions. The fellow will participate in a monthly interdisciplinary Huntington’s disease clinic.
The fellow will receive training in botulinum toxin application, initially observing and then performing injections under supervision in 1-2 half-day sessions per week. UMass has a functional neurosurgeon who is currently performing about 2 deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgeries per month, and the fellow will follow patients through the peri-operative period. The fellow will develop competency in DBS programming. There are opportunities to shadow neurologists at nearby programs to gain additional experience in rare movement disorders, such as ataxia and dystonia, as well as to learn about physical and occupational therapy for movement disorders at regional specialized centers. There are opportunities to see pediatric cases, focusing on tics and Tourette’s in an inter-disciplinary UMass specialty clinic. Overall, we strive to prioritize the fellow’s clinical training and education, rather than for the fellow to support other physicians in their practice.
Clinical and Research Opportunities
Clinical Opportunities:
The fellow will work collaboratively in the outpatient clinic with the Movement Disorders Division faculty, becoming progressively more independent through the 12 month program. Generally, the fellow will have their own continuity clinic two half-day sessions each week. In addition four half-day sessions will be spent learning and performing other skills such as DBS programming, botulinum toxin injections, and specialized clinical evaluation and management.
The fellowship is dedicated to developing clinical and research skills in movement disorders. Clinical training includes diagnosing and managing a variety of movement disorders including Parkinson's disease, atypical parkinsonism, ataxia, dystonia, tremor, and Huntington's disease.
The fellow will participate in:
- deep brain stimulator pre-surgical evaluation
- intra-operative assessment and programming
- administration of botinum toxin inections
There are also training opportunities in the evaluation and treatment of Autonomic disorders, the Autonomic laboratory and in neurorehabilitation.
Regional Elective opportunities include:
MGH Dystonia clinic, preceptor: Nutan Sharma, MD, PhD
MGH Ataxia clinic, Christopher Stephen, MD
Tewksbury Hospital,Huntington's disease unit, Samuel Frank, MD
Research Opportunities:
Fellows are strongly encouraged to pursue a mentored research project based on their interests. Both clinical and basic science research opportunities are available, including in the Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, the UMass Neuronexus Institute (https://www.umassmed.edu/NeuroNexus/), the RNA Therapeutics Institute (https://www.umassmed.edu/rti/), and the Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases Research (https://www.umassmed.edu/rare-disease-research/)