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Does anyone have any insight into what this entails and how to become a neurointensivist? Are there CCM fellowships that exist for neurologists? Thanks.
Bonobo said:Some more details on Neurocritical Care:
The fellowship is not yet accredited, but will probably be in the next few years. The various programs are trying to figure out how much stroke they need to incorporate since much of neurocritical care involves various types of vascular diseases. UCSF and Harvard (being among the top 4 programs along with Columbia and Johns Hopkins) have designed 2-3 year fellowships that dually train you in stroke and neurocritical care. Getting a fellowship is not that competitive. Jobs afterwards are plentiful--even if you only do a 1-year fellowship that is available at some places (e.g. UofC). The pay starts at $125K at some academic centers, but can get considerably better depending on how good you are. The new comprehensive stroke centers will need neurointensivists to manage post-interventional patients along with all types of stroke, so the pay and job opportunities should improve.
What does the field entail? Mainly managing ICP in brain trauma, stroke, and ICH patients, seizure activity in post-neurosurgical/ICH/status eplipeticus patients, and occasionally ventilation in neuromuscular patients. All of this means exciting moments with patients in status or acute ICH, learning to place bedside EVD's/bolts, and being a general all around intensivist. There are also plenty of interesting diagnostic cases that come to the NICU (ADEM/AHLE, West Nile, etc).
Overall, a great field, but one in flux. Other places in addition to the ones above include WashU, Mayo, Emory, UCLA, UPenn, Cleveland Clinic, Case Western, UVa.
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