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The Children's Hospital Department of Neurology recruits two EEG/Epilepsy
Fellows each year which are fully funded by the hospital. Fellows have
the option of staying a second year after successful completion of year
one, depending upon their career goals. We are currently in the process
of evaluating applicants for positions beginning July 1, 2002.
Although the schedule for fellows varies somewhat from year to year,
the first year is devoted to participation in the care of epilepsy patients,
both inpatient and outpatient, routine EEG interpretation and long term
EEG/video monitoring.Ê In addition, elective time in sleep, evoked
potentials, adult EEG and EMG is available, and required for those who
wish to become eligible for clinical neurophysiology boards.Ê The second year may also include research.
We have a six bed
digital monitoring unit on the inpatient neurology floor and monitored
beds in the ICU equipped with long-term EEG/video monitoring equipment.Ê
While a variety of children with epilepsy are evaluated in these
units, the primary emphasis is on the presurgical evaluation, including
use of SPECT, PET, neuropsychological assessments, neuroimaging, Wada
test and invasive EEG monitoring (subdural and depth electrodes).Ê
There is an opportunity to participate in cortical mapping of
functional cortex both preoperatively through subdural grids and intraoperatively
during corticography.Ê The epilepsy
service also follows the surgical patients postoperatively in the hospital
and as outpatients.Ê The average
census on the inpatient epilepsy service is 5-10 patients.Ê
Another aspect of epilepsy surgery is the vagus nerve stimulator.Ê Our epilepsy service is one of the largest
and most active pediatric implant programs in the world, with over 150
done so far.Ê
In
addition to surgery patients, the epilepsy team also manages patients
with poorly controlled seizures and directs the evaluation of children
with non-epileptic paroxysmal disorders.Ê
This would include our two subspecialty clinics for the comprehensive
care of tuberous sclerosis and the ketogenic diet, both orchestrated
by Dr. Elizabeth Thiele.
One aim of the fellowship program is to prepare the fellow for board
certification by the American Board of Clinical Neurophysiology. The
clinical neurophysiology laboratory at Children's Hospital performs
over 3,300 routine EEGs per year, primarily in children. We have excellent
neonatal intensive care units and the fellow is exposed to many studies
in both term and pre-term infants. Experience in adult EEGs is obtained
by spending elective time at Beth Israel Hospital under the direction
of Dr. Don Schomer. Between 300-500 evoked potential studies and approximately
300 intraoperative cases are done per year. The majority of the intraoperative
monitoring is done for orthopedic and neurosurgical cases.
The core faculty of the Division of Epilepsy & Clinical Neurophysiology
include Dr. Blaise Bourgeois, Director of the Division of Epilepsy &
Clinical Neurophysiology, Dr. Gregory Holmes, Director of the Center
for Pediatric Epilepsy Research, Drs. Frank Duffy, James Riviello, Elizabeth
Thiele, and Ann Bergin. Dr. Richard Ferber directs the Sleep laboratory.
Clinical research
programs include a joint study with cardiology on EEG changes in infants
undergoing correction of transposition of the great arteries (Dr.Holmes,
and Dr. Riviello) intraoperative evoked potentials, evaluation of new
antiepileptic drugs (Dr. Holmes, and Dr. Riviello), evaluation of the
vagus nerve stimulator the use of BEAM and long latency evoked potentials
in assessing infants and children with learning disabilities (Dr. Duffy).
Animal projects include the study of the long term sequelae of seizures
and antiepileptic drugs in the immature brain (Dr. Holmes). Fellows
may also elect to spend time in one of these areas or one of the many
basic science laboratories in the Longwood area.
The chairman of pediatric neurology is Dr. Joseph Volpe. There are 47
full time faculty members in the Department of Neurology at Children's
Hospital.
Children's Hospital is a 353 bed pediatric hospital that is the major
pediatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The inpatient
facilities are relatively new and the faculty, nurses, and house staff
are excellent. The hospital is in the center of a large medical complex
including Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Hospital, Brigham and
Women's Hospital, Joslin Diabetes Center, the Dana Farber, and the Harvard
University School of Public Health. The medical complex has clinical
and research facilities that are among the best in the world.
Fellows who have completed the program during the past several years
have included: Helen Skouteli (private practice in Greece), Dan Miles
(academics, St. Christopher's Hospital in Philadelphia), Philip Pearl
(academics, Children's National Medical Center, Washington DC), Carl
Stafstrom (academics, University of Wisconsin), Jim Filiano (academics,
Dartmouth), Jules Constantinou (academics, New England Medical Center,
Boston), Jill Gotoff (private practice, Pennsylvania), Bryan Lynch (academics,
Ireland), Amy Stauffer (private practice, Delaware), Marcio Sotero (academics,
Seattle), Atiya Khan (academics, West Virginia), Yoshio Furatsugi (academics,
Japan), Gerry So (academics, Texas), Tarif Bakdash (academics, Case
Western Reserve), Dr. Dilek Yalnizoglu (academics, Turkey).
The hospital is in an excellent location. We are within walking distance
of Fenway Park (home of the Red Sox), the Museum of Fine Arts, and several
excellent restaurants. The medical area is easily reached by public
transportation. While Boston is an exciting and marvelous place to live,
unfortunately the cost of living is very high. Apartments are readily
available near the medical center.
In summary, we feel we offer a unique and stimulating program that will
prepare for a career in either academics or private practice. While
the fellow works very hard, the rewards are great.
The salary for the first year fellow is approximately $47,400 a year.
At present, we have two available positions beginning in July of 2002.
If you are interested, a curriculum vitae and three letters of recommendation
are needed so that you can be included in our interview process which
occurs between April and July, 2000.
The program is very competitive and an interview is required, which
does not guarantee an appointment. Therefore, it is urged that your
paperwork be completed by late spring or early summer at the latest.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to call or write.
E-mail:
Blaise F. D. Bourgeois,
MD
Director, Division of Epilepsy
& Clinical Neurophysiology
Children's Hospital
Department of Neurology
300 Longwood Avenue
Hunnewell 2
Boston, MA 02115
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