Movement Disorders Fellowship

The Department of Neurology at the Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana offers a one-year fellowship in Movement Disorders. Fellows are trained and become competent in diagnosis, management and treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, Essential Tremor, Dystonia, Tourette’s, Huntington’s disease and many other movement disorders.

The Ochsner Movement Disorders Fellowship includes formal interdisciplinary training in the evaluation, planning, intra-operative microelectode recording and post-operative programming of deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy in Parkinson’s Disease, Essential Tremor and dystonia. Graduating Fellows will have the skills and experience to implement and direct future Movement Disorder Programs and DBS Centers. Fellows will also participate in weekly botulinum clinics and become proficient with both EMG-guided as well as unguided botulinum therapy.

Education and Requirements

Our fellowship is a one year program. Requirements for application include completion of accredited neurology residency and eligibility for Louisiana licensure. The fellowship is based at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. The salary is based on PGY level. Applications for each years fellowship are accepted on an ongoing basis, with the start date being flexible.

Research/Scholarly Activities

There is opportunity to participate in clinical research and all fellows are encouraged to participate in clinical research during their training. There is tremendous support available at Ochsner Medical Center – New Orleans for developing research projects.

Leadership & Faculty

• David Houghton, MD, MPH
• Julia Staisch, MD, MS
• Colleen Knoop, NP

Movement Disorders Fellowship Goals and Objectives

1. To gain training that emphasizes the description, evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of various movement disorders including Parkinson's disease and related neurodegenerative disorders, tremor disorders, focal and generalized dystonia, Huntington's disease and other choreiform disorders, Tourette syndrome, restless leg syndrome, tardive dyskinesia, myoclonus, hemiballismus, and other rare disorders associated with abnormal movements.
2. To evaluate new patients and provide ongoing care to established patients and discuss therapeutic recommendations and outcomes.
3. To work with our neurosurgery group in the evaluation and treatment of patients undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS), including patients with Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and dystonia. Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in patient testing during DBS surgery, learn intraoperative microelectrode recording, and will become familiar with programming DBS pulse generators.
4. To learn, practice and manage the use of botulinum toxin injections to alleviate movement disorders.
5. To participate in ongoing clinical research studies; to gain experience in IRB/regulatory issues related to clinical trials; to assist in protocol review, investigator meetings, contract/budget negotiations, patient enrollment, data collection, monitoring visits, and statistical evaluation.
6. To gain experience with standardized rating scales used in evaluating movement disorders.
7. To learn about the benefits and work with the ancillary programs, i.e., physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, social worker referrals.
8. To create, present and become comfortable with presenting Movement Disorder topics to groups of patients and/or providers.
9. To teach medical students and neurology residents topics in Movement Disorders at bedside and in structured lecture series.
10. To develop and complete at least one original clinical research project and to publish these results in abstract form.

Movement Disorders Fellowship Curriculum

Required Presentations:

1. Two grand rounds presentations
2. One support group presentation
3. Annual symposium presentation
4. Two journal club presentations
5. Two student lectures
6. Two video rounds presentations

Reading and Didactic Topics:

• Parkinson’s Disease
  • Etiology, pathology, epidemiology of PD
  • Evaluation and management of PD
  • Parkinsonisms: etiology, phenotypes, pathology, prognosis, treatment
  • Current research
• Tremor
• DBS
  • Patient selection, pre-operative evaluations, counseling
  • Target selection, basal ganglia anatomy and circuitry
  • Physics/electrophysiology; microelectrode recording, fields, thresholds
  • Programming
  • Troubleshooting problems and long-term management issues
  • Practice Management (billing and coding, documentation)

• Huntington’s Disease and Choreas
• Ataxia
• Dystonias and Botulinum Toxin treatment
• Tic Disorders
• Dementias
• Tardive Dyskinesia/ Drug-induced Disorders
• Pediatric Movement Disorders
  

Clinical Requirements:

• Parkinson’s Disease Clinic (1.5 days with attending, 0.5 day Fellow’s clinic) (2 days per week)
• DBS Evaluation Clinic (0.5 day per week)
• Botulinum Clinic (4 days per month)
• Movement Disorders Clinic (tremor, gait, dystonia, chorea) (1 day per week)
• General Neurology Continuity Clinic (Fellow’s clinic) (0.5 day per week)
• DBS surgical planning and inter-operative monitoring (1 day per week)
• Attending physician for inpatient consults (6 weeks per year)

Research Requirement (year 1):

• One review article
• One case report (poster presentation at MDS or AAN meeting)

Outside learning responsibilities:

• Movement Disorders Society Meeting, where funding available (Fellow to acquire).
• Medtronic DBS course, where available.

Method of Evaluation of Fellow:

• Daily feedback from Drs. Staisch, Houghton and Lea
• Bi-annual written evaluations by staff and faculty to include knowledge base, clinical performance, outcomes and patient satisfaction.
• Written evaluations at all Fellow presentations.

Information about Services at Ochsner

• Movement Disorders
• Neurology
• Parkinson's Disease

Contact Information

Department of Neurology
Ochsner Medical Center
1514 Jefferson Hwy
New Orleans, LA 70121