Post Doctoral Fellowship Programs in Neurology

The Department of Neurology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for medical Sciences and Technology offers Post Doctoral Fellowship Programs in various sub-specialties in Neurology. The programs begin on the 1st of January every year and the duration of the programs is one year. Applications are called for in the month of August, and the notification will be published in the national dailies and institute website.

Prerequisite for applicants: Postdoctoral fellowship positions are open to candidates who have
1) a doctoral degree of DM (Neurology) or its equivalent and
2) registration with the central/ state medical council.

The programs are organized under faculty trained in the concerned sub-specialty in internationally reputed centers.

Post Doctoral Fellowship in Epilepsy (1 seat)
Training includes:

Outpatient and inpatient expert management of epilepsy patients, especially difficult-to-treat epilepsies
Comprehensive presurgical evaluation and post-operative assessment and follow-up of patients with refractory epilepsy
Exposure and expert training in

1. Prolonged video-EEG monitoring

2. Acute and chronic electrocorticography (intracortical electrode implantation and invasive monitoring)

3. Cortical stimulation and mapping (intra and extra-operative)

4. Placement of sphenoidal electrodes

5. Training in utilizing non-invasive investigative tools like SPECT, PET, fMRI etc in the treatment of medically refractory epilepsies.

Research activities in epileptology with publishing one's work in International journals and participating in National and International epilepsy conferences.

Post doctoral Fellowship in EEG (1 seat)
This program is designed primarily to help the fellow define the optimal diagnostic and therapeutic uses of EEG for clinical practice in Neurology, Neurosurgery and other specialties.
Training includes:

1. Indications for referring a patient for EEG

2. Technical aspects of EEG recording

3. Basic and advanced teaching on the electrophysiological principles involved in spike generation.

4. Understanding, evaluating and reporting EEG in the context of the patient's clinical problem

5. Recognition of the various normal and abnormal types of EEG activity and the significance of each.

6. Classification system of EEGs

7. Interaction with the respective patients based on their EEG diagnosis and formulating their treatment with the help of experienced epileptologists and follow-up of these patients for better clinical application of EEG in daily practice.

8. After gaining basic EEG training, fellow will be posted in video-telemetry lab to gain experience in identifying various seizure patterns and epilepsy syndromes.

9. Special training in acute and chronic Electrocorticography (invasive monitoring) and sphenoidal electrode placement.

10. Opportunity to conduct research in this field with publication of at least 2 research articles in international journals and participating in various national/international conferences.

Post Doctoral Fellowship in Movement Disorders (1 seat)
Training includes:

1. Participation in the Movement Disorders Clinic with an in depth exposure to the clinical diagnosis, investigations and management of the full range of movement disorders.

2. Opportunity to participate actively in a well established botulinum toxin clinic.

3. Exposure to the pre-operative assessment, intra-operative monitoring, post-operative care and follow-up monitoring of patients undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation surgery for movement disorders like Parkinson's disease, Essential Tremor and Dystonia, as well as ablative procedures like stereotactic thalamotomy and pallidotomy. The functional neurosurgical procedures are done with the aid of an advanced Neuro-navigation System and intra-operative micro-electrode recording.

4. Participation in international clinical trials in Movement Disorders.

5. Exposure to various research projects in areas like Clinical Genetics (in relation to Movement Disorders) and Motor System Physiology using advanced technology like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.

6. Opportunity to attend national / international conferences and present papers and publish papers in international journals.

For more details, contact:

Professor Asha Kishore

Email:

Phone: 0471-2524268

Post Doctoral Fellowship in Clinical Cognition and Behavioral Neurology (1 seat)
Clinical experience includes:

Participation in Memory and Neuro-Behavioral Clinic catering for patients with a variety of dementing illnesses with comorbid behavioural conditions or comorbid higher mental and behavioural dysfunctions associated with other neurological and neurosurgical conditions.
Understanding the need for and roles of various components in the multi-disciplinary team (consisting of Cognitive Neurologists, Psychiatrists, Neuropsychologists, Speech Therapists and Social Workers) for providing comprehensive care for patients with all types of cognitive and behavioural dysfunction
Training in the evaluation, diagnosis and management of disorders of cognition / and behavioural functions (like speech and language disturbances), including understanding the principles and interpretations of various Clinical Neuropsychological and Language related Tests.
Understanding research methodologies in Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience.
Exposure to the activities of the Neurogenetics Lab and the Brain Mapping Lab. The ongoing activities include structural MRI studies such as brain volumetric studies in patients with dementia and in normal aging, genetic and biochemical marker studies in dementia and cognition disorders and functional MRI (fMRI) studies in neuroscience (vision, memory and language) and in patients.
An opportunity for candidates to participate in some of these research activities.

For more details, contact: