Categories of the Resident and Fellow Section

For full submission information to Neurology, also access the Author Center

Clinical Reasoning

Clinical Reasoning focuses on case presentations with the aim of developing clinical reasoning skills among trainees. Appropriate cases for publication would include uncommon presentations of common neurological disorders and also typical presentations of more exotic disorders. The emphasis of the case presentation should be on generating a sound, thorough differential diagnosis; logically arriving at the correct diagnosis; and thoughtfully discussing the teaching-points of the case. Cases discussed in the section should utilize data presented serially in 2-4 segments that could be opened sequentially by the reader, allowing them to challenge themselves by thinking through the differential diagnosis or treatment options at each step. The manuscript should indicate clearly where each break would occur, with specific questions for the reader to consider as they work their way through the case. The final section should provide the experienced clinician's discussion (or resident author's literature review). Ideally the individual sections will also include visually presented data, such as radiology, EEG, EMG, or other studies. See one-page Author Guide.

Education Research

As the central mission of Neurology®, education is a top priority. This is a section for interventional educational studies, as well as more traditional educational research, such as surveys. This section will examine the way neurologists not only practice, but also the way we teach and approach education. Neurologists have traditionally been respected, perhaps above all other specialties, for their scholarship and teaching. Educational issues will therefore continue to be at the center of the mission of Neurology.

Opinion and Special Articles

These manuscripts will provide timely opinions about important areas in neurology education and training. Relevant topics include medical student teaching, training requirements, work/life balance, board certification, and directions in education. Seeking the assistance of senior faculty members is often useful. Those interested in writing these manuscripts should contact the Resident and Fellow Section Editor before submission to inquire about the interest in specific topics.

Training in Neurology

Manuscripts submitted to this subsection should address topics relating to training neurologists at any stage, including pre-college, college, medical school, residency, fellowship, or even faculty. The overall focus should be to provide new knowledge for readers to improve their own training opportunities. Submissions could include descriptions of novel training programs, personal experiences or expert opinion on critical gaps in training. Education research studies are better suited for the Education Research subsection. Authors should thoroughly review the existing literature and identify an important knowledge gap related to training in neurology. There should be a clear description of how an education intervention or observation addresses this gap and an objective assessment of its effectiveness. Conclusions should be supported by the study findings and provide practical information for neurologists in training.

Right Brain

Right Brain is devoted to the relationship between neurology and the medical humanities, with submissions either written by trainees or with a focus on the experience of the trainee. Appropriate submissions include articles, commentaries and reflections on the interaction between neurology and history, literature, ethics, theology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, poetry, theater, film, fine arts or the media. Right Brain also will publish original works of fiction, poetry, and reflection written by residents and fellows relating to the practice of neurology or neurology training.

Neurology Journal Club

Neurology Journal Club submissions are structured evaluations of recent Neurology research articles. The aim is to enhance the training of residents and fellows by instruction in the critical appraisal of medical literature. Residents or Fellows interested in submitting a Neurology Journal Club article should review the e-Publication Ahead of Print articles at http://www.neurology.org/content/early/recent for the most recently published material and email Neurology with their selection for prior approval. Selections will aim to represent the major categories of research methodology over the course of a 3 year residency cycle. Submissions should be timely and are requested no longer than 4 weeks following the original e-Publication date of the subject article. These Journal Club critiques, written by neurology residents and fellows with faculty supervision, should follow a specific outline and contain subtitles for background and significance, hypothesis and design, methods, results, and interpretation. Further formatting advice may be found in Dr. Millichap's August 30, 2011 Editorial. Rather than a critical correspondence or editorial, this feature will highlight methods for the critical appraisal of medical literature. This online feature could be used as an adjunct to traditional institutional journal clubs and promote discussion among neurologists, including trainees and those in practice.

Child Neurology Section

The child neurology section in the Resident and Fellow Section of Neurology focuses on contemporary educational issues in child neurology. The goal of the section is to provide up-to-date reviews on important topics in child neurology that are relevant to all neurologists, both adult and child, particularly those still in their training. Examples include management of acute stroke in children, childhood demyelinating disease, neuroimaging in metabolic disorders, and the neurobiology of autism. Each piece will begin with a patient case, followed by a brief discussion about the differential diagnosis and a detailed discussion about the topic of focus. Submissions are welcome from residents and fellows in either child or adult neurology. Ideally, submissions will include the patient case as well as the discussion, but submission of timely review articles without an accompanying case will also be considered. In this situation, the editors of this section may supply an appropriate patient case.

Pearls and Oy-sters

“Pearls and Oy-sters” is a feature focusing on fundamental clinical neurology. Each article should address a specific niche of neurological disease and provide expertise in the form of clinical insights and tips, i.e., “pearls,” as well as advice for avoiding mistakes, or “oy-sters.” The author may choose to address a particular facet of the approach to neurological disease such as localization, elaboration of a differential diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment. The article should concentrate on what may be found in a textbook and/or provide what textbooks cannot, in the form of knowledge rendered from clinical experience. The target audience consists of those in training; however, the subject matter should be of interest to all in the world of clinical neurology. See one-page Author Guide.

Global and Community Health

More than 85% of the world's population lives in low and middle income countries, where the burden of neurologic disease is greatest. In addition, over 50 million Americans live in medically underserved communities. Despite these figures, relatively little is known about patients and practitioners of neurology in resource-limited settings. This section aims to explore global and community health topics in neurology education. We welcome manuscripts describing international educational exchanges, personal rotations in low and middle income countries, and work by neurology trainees from around the world. We also welcome manuscripts that discuss community health initiatives and volunteer experiences in underserved regions of the United States. Inclusion of practical information on local or international volunteer opportunities would also be of use.
 

Future of Neurology & Technology

This section focuses on the trainee perspective on neurology and technology. How is technology changing the way neurologists train and practice? What  phone applications or devices are being used to enhance the neurologist’s clinical acumen, diagnostic accuracy, physical examination and patient interaction?  For instance, was there a new phone application used to help patients track migraines? Was there a novel phone application used to help patients track their seizures? Was there an iPhone ophthalmoscope used to detect papilledema? How is this changing the practice of clinical neurology for students, residents, fellows, and neurologists?

These articles will provide a case-based discussion of new, emerging, or existing technologies that are being used with patients. Each piece should begin with a patient case presentation. The author(s) will describe how technology was used (e.g. an iPhone ophthalmoscope). Following this, authors will provide a discussion about the technology, its advantages and disadvantages, how it was implemented into practice, barriers to its use, what data have been collected thus far on its efficacy in various situations, whether there are other similar devices made by different companies that could prove useful, and what potential future opportunities exist for this particular technology.

Emerging Subspecialties

These manuscripts will review the history and development of emerging subspecialties in neurology, including fields such as Pain Medicine, Headache, Neurocritical Care, Interventional Neurology, and others. The focus should be on educating residents with a possible interest in this subspecialty. Those interested in writing these manuscripts should contact the Resident and Fellow Section Editor before submission to inquire about the need for an article on a particular topic.

 

Teaching NeuroImages & Teaching Video NeuroImages

Teaching NeuroImages are interesting, previously unpublished photomicrographs, patient photographs, neuroradiologic images, or other pictorial material. They should be particularly clear examples of established observations intended for the trainee audience. Educational videos may also be submitted under this category (Teaching Video NeuroImages.). *Note*: If revision is invited for Teaching NeuroImage or Video Teaching NeuroImage submissions , authors will be prompted by editorial staff to create and upload PowerPoint slides as ‘Teaching Slides.’ These slides will be made available online with the article as a teaching tool for trainees and program directors. The purpose of teaching slide deck is to provide a ready-to-use learning tool to promote critical thinking and analysis of a clinical case history plus neuroimaging findings. The diagnosis and teaching points are revealed in the last slide so that the learners have the opportunity to formulate a differential diagnosis and interpret the images before being told the answer. Please provide four slides; all of the information on the slides can be copied and pasted from the original manuscript into the slide deck as described below. The figure legend and references go in the speaker’s notes section. See one-page Author Guide.

Please use Calibri font (black color without text effects like shadows or outlines, please). Font size:

36 – 44 point for the headings, 24 – 32 point for the body text, and 24 point for the “First Author, et al.” in the bottom right of the slides.

SLIDE 1 – Teaching NeuroImages title slide (but not title of article as that may give away diagnosis)

  • SLIDE IS PRE-MADE WITH “TEACHING NEUROIMAGES NEUROLOGY RESIDENT AND FELLOW SECTION” PLUS AAN COPYRIGHT INFORMATION AND LOGO.
  • OPTIONAL: PLEASE ADD A BRIEF TITLE WITH THE AGE AND SEX OF THE PATIENT + A less than 5 WORD DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTATION (FOR EXAMPLE: “A 13 YEAR OLD GIRL WITH PROGRESSIVE WEAKNESS”; “A 3 YEAR OLD BOY WITH GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY”; “A 65 YEAR OLD MAN WITH NEW HEADACHES”). THE TITLE MAY BE IN BOLD.

SLIDE 2 – “VIGNETTE”

  • PASTE CASE HISTORY AS BULLETED LIST.
  • TYPE FIRST AUTHOR’s NAME + “et al.” IN LOWER RIGHT CORNER OF SLIDE

SLIDE 3 – “IMAGING”:

  • PASTE FIGURE LEGEND INTO THE NOTES SECTION
  • TYPE FIRST AUTHOR’s NAME + “et al.” IN LOWER RIGHT CORNER OF SLIDE

SLIDE 4 – reveal diagnosis / conclusions

  • PASTE TITLE OF TEACHING NEUROIMAGE
  • PASTE CONCLUSIONS AS A BULLETED LIST
  • PASTE REFERENCES INTO THE NOTES SECTION
  • TYPE FIRST AUTHOR’s NAME + “et al.” IN LOWER RIGHT CORNER OF SLIDE