peds neuro question

[hcrunner82]

Hi, I'm a current 3rd year interested in peds neurology and was hoping one of you all would be able to answer a couple of quick questions for me

1) Is it possible and/or common for peds neurologists to also practice adult neurology when they get out of residency?...assuming they go into private practice and not into academics.

2) Is it difficult(or even possible) for a pediatric neurology resident to match into a fellowship in EEG/EMG?

I just finished my neurology clerkship and fell in love with both peds neurology and reading/doing EEG/EMG so my dream job would be one that allowed me to do a little bit of both...I'm just not sure that is really possible. Thanks for any help and good luck to all on the upcoming match.

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[bjolly]

epilepsy is a big part of peds neuro, so I would think there would be plenty of opportunities for EEG reading. Probably not as much call for EMG although it could certainly be useful in some situations.

 

[neurologist]

1) Is it possible and/or common for peds neurologists to also practice adult neurology when they get out of residency?...assuming they go into private practice and not into academics.

Possible? Yes. Common? Depends on the setting. Peds neuro is in pretty high demand so I suspect that anywhere you went, if you were to say "I want to do 50/50 peds and adult neuro," you'd be welcomed with open arms. This is actually probably even more likely in the private setting than in academics, where you'd probably be more likely to be limited to peds.

Remember that board certified peds neurologists are also automatically boarded in "adult" neuro!

2) Is it difficult(or even possible) for a pediatric neurology resident to match into a fellowship in EEG/EMG?

Sure it's possible. Given your stated interests, I'd suggest you look for a neurophysiology fellowship program that allows a 50/50 training split between EEG and EMG (many programs make you focus on one or the other, but there are some that don't). An alternative would be to do one year of both EEG and EMG.

 

[buckley]

Corollary to OP question: Is it possible for someone trained in adult neurology in the US to also practice in peds neuro? Tnx

 

[BrainBuff]

Corollary to OP question: Is it possible for someone trained in adult neurology in the US to also practice in peds neuro? Tnx

Interesting way of putting it. Any licensed medical doctor can "practice" adult or peds neuro or any medical specialty for that matter. At the end, it all has to do with how confident you feel in the field in question. I know of several very capable internists who do not like to refer any of their patients out because they feel very competent managing their neurological problems.

Having said that, to work for a specialty group, etc you clearly need the residency training in the subspecialty. Depending on your location and how accessible specialties are, some adult neurologists practice peds as well.

 

[buckley]

Ok thanks! I think I get that. So the limitation is imposed mainly by physician preference. That is, nobody's gonna be arching their brows(as long as management is alright) if you are an adult neuro grad who also has pedia epileptic patients. And vice versa! Epileptic pedia patients do not need to change doctors when they reach 19 years old. Glad to hear there's no finite line with the legalities!

 

[bjolly]

I did a peds neuro rotation earlier this year and there were a number of patienets who had various developmental disabilities along with neurological problems (MR, autism along with seizures etc) and in a lot of cases those patients stayed with the peds neurologists as adults. So I would think it's not that unusual.