Neurology Rundown
Teams and wards
There are two teams - stroke and neurology. You will generally spend half the run on each team. Decide with your off-sider who starts on which team and at what week you swap over. You will be based on ward 51.
Neurology day stay on level 8 for is for LP clinics, weekly teaching and departmental meetings.
Daily Routine
Ward round starts at 8am on ward 51 for both teams. Generally ward rounds take a few hours but this depends on how many patients there are. On the Neurology team generally there are fewer patients and they are often more complex and have longer stays. On the Stroke team the turnover is quite fast with people discharged home, transferred back to their own DHB or transferred to the stroke rehab team.
Weekly events
Day & Time | Event | Comments |
|---|---|---|
Weds and Fri 0800-0900 | Teaching, Neurology Day Stay unit (support building level 8). | Presented by the registrars. Go straight there in the morning, the ward round will start afterwards. |
Weds 1300 | LP clinic in the Day Stay unit | Usually you have two patients each. There is always a registrar supervising this clinic and you can ask for help at any time. Do not worry about never having done an LP – they will teach you step-by-step. |
Thurs 1300 | Neuroradiology conference followed by the neurology departmental meeting | Discuss all the current patients and then afterwards usually a journal club. This meeting can be long and go till 5PM - there is often a welcomed break in the middle with food and drink. Sometimes you have to go to the ward to sort things out – you can pop in and out of these meetings. |
General
Most people really enjoy this run. The opportunity to do lumbar punctures is unique to this run and a valuable procedural skill so be sure to make the most of these clinics.
The registrars can help you learn how to arrange neurology-specific investigations/interventions which are less commonly done such as ordering neuronal antibodies, plasma exchange, and EEGS.
For stroke patients it is important to check their HbA1c and lipid panel if not done recently.
Sometimes there are elective admissions for video EEG monitoring under Neurology. These patients usually stay about a week. Sheila the epilepsy Nurse Specialist and the epilepsy team will provide instructions on timing of stopping and restarting medications.
On call
On long days and nights you cover med specs i.e. Gastro/Resp/Renal/Onc/Haem. On long days there is a registrar on for each med spec and overnight there is one registrar covering the medical specialties.