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Pediatric Epilepsy Fellowship

Overview

The Pediatric Epilepsy Fellowship Program offered through the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Colorado is an accredited epilepsy fellowship through the ACGME, effective July 1, 2014. The program offers a one-year clinical fellowship in pediatric epilepsy. The fellowship can be expanded to a second research year; year two is dependent on the receipt of outside funding.

The fellowship in pediatric epilepsy was designed to be completed in one (1) academic year. The fellowship is a combination of outpatient care of pediatric epilepsy patients, including experience in the ketogenic diet, vagal nerve stimulation and drug studies, epilepsy monitoring and intra and extra operative functional cortical mapping, evoked potential (ESEP, VEP and BAEP) and the opportunity for research oriented curricular work.

The general goal of the epilepsy fellowship is to train motivated child neurology graduates in the subspecialty care of pediatric epilepsy patients. This includes advanced understanding in the medical management, and the identification and pre-surgical evaluation of intractable pediatric epilepsy patients, as well as the development of an ongoing clinical/bench research interest. The graduate should be able to diagnose and care for patients with epilepsy, including those with complications and diagnostic uncertainties.

The Specific Program Objectives are:

Board Certification by the American Clinical Neurophysiological Society or the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with special qualification in epilepsy
Competent and independent application and interpretation of EEG in pediatric patients
Competent and independent utilization of the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, Intracartoid Amobarbital Testing, Neuroradiological techniques, and Evoked Potential in the pre-surgical evaluation of pediatric epilepsy patients
Competent and independent care of both in-patient and out-patient pediatric epilepsy patients
Competent and independent supervision of neurology fellows and other fellows and medical students on rotation in the Neurology Department.

Teaching is provided by the program director and other faculty. Faculty are certified by the ABPN with special qualification in child neurology and also have board certification in neurophysiology and have diverse interests and skills to meet the broad needs to provide the breadth of teaching necessary. The faculty actively pursue scholarly activities in the neurosciences and encourage fellows to do the same.

Clinical Education

Direct supervision by epilepsy faculty in continuity clinics will demand excellence in interpersonal communication and will foster compassionate and state of the art pediatric patient care in the out-patient setting. Through this direct mentorship, advancements in biomedical, clinical, and cognate knowledge in the field of epilepsy will be learned. In the epilepsy continuity clinic, the fellow will obtain skills in system-based practice as well as practice based learning objectives. Additionally, training in the management of the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit will encourage the development of professionalism and ethics, as a diverse patient population, as well as diverse members of the evaluation team must be managed.

Major Rotation(s) / Methodology:

Epilepsy Monitoring Unit – identify appropriate pediatric candidates for long term monitoring, utilize available diagnostic and historical data to present and explain epilepsy surgical options, understand and utilize LTM for characterization of other difficult to manage pediatric patients, understand the basic principles of intra-cranial EEG video monitoring. In addition, the fellow will spend a month in adult epilepsy monitoring unit at the University to learn adult EEG waveforms in order to gain exposure to the difference between adult and pediatric EEGs.

Outpatient clinics – provide state of the art care in a tertiary referral center for identification and management of pediatric epilepsy patients, identification of possible surgical candidates, follow up care for post-surgical patients, follow up care for ketogenic diet and vagus nerve stimulation patients and investigational clinical trials management.

Independent Research (any admixture of clinical/ bench/curricular) – develop an appreciation and foundation for ongoing contribution to the epilepsy literature utilizing experiences from both a clinical and curricular setting. Paper presentations are encouraged for the one conference attended annually.

Functional Mapping Techniques (WADA, Cortical Mapping) – in conjunction with interventional radiology and neuro surgery, specific invasive techniques that are utilized in pre-surgical evaluation are to be learned on an as-available basis.

Faculty

Amy Brooks-Kayal, MD, Chief of Neurology

Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology & Pharmaceutical Sciences

Co-Director, Translational Epilepsy Program

Chief & Ponzio Family Chair in Ped Neurology

Charuta Joshi, MBBS, Director, Pediatric Epilepsy Fellowship Program

Professor of Clinical Neurology & Pediatrics

Kristen Park, MD, Associate Director, Pediatric Epilepsy Fellowship Program

Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Neurology

Susan Koh, MD

Associate Chief of Pediatrics & Neurology

Kevin Chapman, MD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Neurology

Director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Program

Kathleen Currey, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Practice

Scott Demarest, MD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics & Neurology

Cornelia Drees, MD

Associate Professor of Neurology

Director, Intraoperative Monitoring

Krista Eschbach, MD

Assistant Professor of Neurology & Pediatrics

Kelly Knupp, MD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Neurology

Bradford R. Miller, MD

Senior Instructor of Pediatrics

Andrew M. White, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Neurology

Fellows for 2019-2020

Garry Morris, MD

Fellow

Afsaneh Talai, MD

Fellow

How To Apply

We encourage child neurology residents interested in pediatric epilepsy to contact us in their PGY 4 year during September and October. All application materials must be submitted by October 31st, 2019; 18 months prior to the start of academic year. Interviews will be conducted in November, December, and early January. Applicants will be notified no later than February 15th.

Inquiries should be made directly to the Program Director: Dr. Charuta Joshi

Salary and Benefits

The University of Colorado offers salary and benefits packages that are competitive with other fellowship programs across the country. Current salary levels can be found here.

Denver

The Mile High City is nestled at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains and is the largest city in the region with a population of 2.9 million. Denver enjoys one of the best climates in the country, with 300 days/year of sunny skies. Although it snows in the winter, the snow melts quickly and temperatures are usually moderate. Hot summer days give way to cool summer evenings. The city is the home to dozens of highly rated restaurants and a vibrant nightlife. The city attracts many outdoor enthusiasts with its extensive system of hiking and bike trails and the largest city park system in the country. The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is the largest performing arts complex under one roof in the country and attracts many of the top national theater tours each year. Red Rocks Amphitheater, a natural amphitheater in the foothills west of town attracts the nation’s top touring musical talent throughout the summer. Denver is home to the Denver Broncos (NFL), the Denver Nuggets (NBA), the Colorado Rockies (MLB), the Colorado Avalanche (NHL), the Colorado Rapids (MLS) and the Colorado Outlaws (MLL). The University of Colorado, the state flagship school and a world-class educational institution, is based in nearby Boulder. In addition, Denver is the gateway to the Rocky Mountains, which offer abundant recreational and sightseeing opportunities year round. The state of Colorado is home to over 20 major ski areas, many of which are within 2 hours of the city. For more information, please visit the Denver Travel and Visitor Bureau.