Meet the Course Directors: Ralph F. Józefowicz, MD, FAAN, and Terrence L. Cascino, MD, FAAN

Ralph F. Józefowicz, MD, FAAN, and Terrence L. Cascino, MD, FAAN,.will direct two companion Neurology Update courses that provide the latest findings on a wide array of neurological disorders. (See below for dates and times). Dr. Józefowicz spoke to AAN.com about these two courses.

Ralph F. Józefowicz, MD, FAAN

Terrence L. Cascino, MD, FAAN

AAN.com: What will the format be for your course this year?
Józefowicz: Neurology is now one of the fastest changing fields in all of medicine and has differentiated into numerous well-defined and complex subspecialties. These factors make it an enormous challenge to stay current. For the 2008 Annual Meeting, there will be two update programs, one offered on Sunday and the other on Friday. Because of the large number of important topics, these two programs will each cover eight unique subjects. Each subject will be presented by a preeminent expert in the field who has also demonstrated superior skills at presenting material of this type to large audiences. Dr. Terry Cascino is the director of Sunday's update course and I am the director of Friday's update course. In 2FC.001 (Sunday), topics include neuromuscular junction disorders and myopathies, neuro-infectious diseases, Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's dementias, stroke, sleep disorders, neuro-ophthalmology, and neuro-oncology.

In 7FC.001 (Friday), topics include in multiple sclerosis, spine disorders, Parkinson's disease, other movement disorders, epilepsy, headache, peripheral neuropathy and motor neuron disorders, and medical neurology.

AAN.com: Who will be the faculty this year? Is there anything attendees should know about your faculty?
Józefowicz: The faculty for Sunday's Update in Neurology Course include Gil I. Wolfe, MD, FAAN; Karen L. Roos, MD, FAAN; Ronald C. Petersen, MD, PhD; Jody Corey-Bloom, MD, PhD; David Lee Gordon, MD, FAHA; Michael H. Silber, MB, ChB, FAAN; Nancy J. Newman, MD, FAAN; and Amy A. Pruitt, MD.

The faculty for Friday's Update in Neurology Course include, Aaron E. Miller, MD, FAAN; J. D. Bartleson, MD, FAAN; J. Eric Ahlskog, MD, PhD; Kapil D. Sethi, MD, FRCP, FAAN; Gregory D. Cascino, MD, FAAN; Peter Goadsby, MD, PhD; Richard J. Barohn, MD, FAAN; and Martin A. Samuels, MD, MACP, FAAN.

All of these faculty members are experts in their field and are outstanding lecturers as well.

AAN.com: How did you go about picking the topic areas for the course this year?
Józefowicz: The topics that have been selected include the 16 major disease areas that general neurologists see in practice.

AAN.com: Who should attend? Who is your target audience?
Józefowicz: The update courses are primarily targeted towards practicing neurologists who want to keep up-to-date with current trends in the practice of neurology. Neurology residents will also benefit from the intense review of clinical neurology provided in these two courses.

AAN.com: Will there be any controversial or breakthrough areas covered this year?
Józefowicz: All of the lecturers have been asked to provide an update in what is new in neurologic diagnosis and therapy in the last year.

AAN.com: Do these courses include audience participation?
Józefowicz: Since we typically have over 500 course participants for each of these courses, questions from the audience are usually reserved for the course breaks.

AAN.com: Will both diagnosis and treatment be covered?
Józefowicz: Yes, both current diagnosis and treatment are covered in each of these courses.

AAN.com: Anything special attendees should know about teaching methods or how the course will be run this year?
Józefowicz: The lectures in these courses are all high yield. The lecturers in both of these courses have specifically been selected because they are all preeminent experts in the field, and they have all demonstrated superior skills at presenting material of this type to large audiences.

AAN.com: These sound like two terrific updates for practicing neurologists! Attendees wishing to take this course can register online. Here's a recap of the course information and schedule:

Course No: 2FC.001
Title: Neurology Update I (Cascino)
Date/Time: Sunday, April 13, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Course No: 7FC.001
Title: Neurology Update II (Józefowicz)
Date/Time: Friday, April 18, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.