Neurology Clerkship and Course Directors

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Consortium of Neurology Clerkship Directors provides a forum for the exchange of views on educational matters related to the teaching of clinical neurology to medical students.

• Help maintain an up–to–date record of basic information concerning neurology clerkships at all American medical schools
• Foster development of educational materials
• Encourage the development of a recommended core curriculum and other consensus policies regarding the teaching of clinical neurology to medical students
• Promote the importance of education as an academic activity

AAN Resources for Clerkship Directors

• Curricula for Internal Medicine and Family Practice residents
• Continuum
• Neurology Education Abstracts
• Education Colloquium
• Education Program materials
• AUPN Boot Camp
• Clerkship and Program Directors Conference Materials
• CNCD Minutes
• 2005 Clerkship Survey Report
• Neurology Residency Match
• Website Resources

The CNCD coordinates activities with the Undergraduate Education Subcommittee (UES) and represents Neurology in the following organizations:

• Alliance for Clinical Education (ACE) is a multidisciplinary group formed in 1992 to enhance clinical instruction of medical students. ACE's mission is to foster collaboration across specialties in order to promote excellence in clinical education of medical students. The ACE website offers several publications, including a Guidebook for Clerkship Directors.
• Medical Student Documentation in Electronic Health Records: A Collaborative Statement from the Alliance for Clinical Education, Hammoud MM, Dalrymple JL, Christner JG, Stewart RA, Fisher J, Margo K, Ali II, Briscoe GW, Pangaro LN. Teaching & Learning in Medicine 2012; 24:257–266.
• Opportunities and challenges in integrating electronic health records into undergraduate medical education: A national survey of clerkship directors. Hammoud MM, Margo K, Christner JG, Fisher J, Fischer SH, Pangaro LN. Teaching & Learning in Medicine 2012; 24:219–224.


• Association of American Medical Colleges Council on Academic Societies (AAMC) offers clinical skills information and provides leaders of medical schools and teaching hospitals with an extensive array of data to support their missions, including salary surveys, benchmarking tools, physician workforce projections, and online databases to help member institutions manage their operations and attain their objectives.


• Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) is the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to the MD degree in US and Canadian medical schools. The LCME website offers information on accreditation standards.

Introducing SYNAPSE – Tools and Resources FROM Clerkship Directors FOR Clerkship Directors.

These tools and resources are intended to assist you with your clerkship.

• Educational Course Objectives (case requirements/teaching cases/case log information)
• U of Toledo Educational Course Objectives (.pdf)

• Syllabi/Curricula
• Mayo Medical School Neurology Curriculum (.pdf)
• Neurology Clerkship Emergencies Core Knowledge (.pdf)
• Practice–Pattern–Based Curriculum Development in Neurology (.pdf)

• Assessment Tools (formative/summative)

• Didactics
• Cerebrovascular Diseases Overview Neurology Didactic Session U of CT (.pdf)
• Diagnosis and Management of Epilepsy (.pdf)
• Dizziness Vertigo and Hearing Loss Neurology Didactic Session U of CT (.pdf)
• Examination of a Comatose Patient (.pdf)
• Headaches and Brain Tumors Neurology Didactic Session U of CT (.pdf)
• MKSAP Neurology Review (.pdf)
• Movement Disorders Neurology Didactic Session U of CT (.pdf)
• Myelopathies and Central Demyelinating Diseases Neurology Didactic Session U of CT (.pdf)
• Neuroimaging Teaching Files U of Toledo (.pdf)
• Peripheral Neuropathy NMJ and Muscle Neurology Didactic Session U of CT (.pdf)
• Seizure Syncope and Sleep Disorders Neurology Didactic Session U of CT (.pdf)
• Stupor Coma Delirium Dementia and Brain DeathNeurology Didactic Session U of CT (.pdf)
• Teaching Rounds – Cerebrovascular Disorders U of CT (.pdf)
• Teaching Rounds – Dizziness, Vertigo and Hearing Loss U of CT (.pdf)
• Teaching Rounds – Encephalopathies Stupor Coma Delirium Dementia and Brain death U of CT (.pdf)
• Teaching Rounds – Headaches and Brain Tumors U of CT (.pdf)
• Teaching Rounds – Movement Disorders U of CT (.pdf)
• Teaching Rounds – Myelopathies and Central Demyelinating Diseases U of CT (.pdf)
• Teaching Rounds – Neuromuscular Diseases U of CT (.pdf)
• Teaching Rounds Seizure and Sleep Disorders U of CT (.pdf)

• Teaching Videos

• Reference Material
• Neurology OSCE (.pdf)
• CD Innovation Award Recipient David Lardizabal, MD Portfolio (.pdf)
• Harvard Clinical Encounter Requirements in the Neuro Clerkship (.pdf)
• U of Connecticut ED2 Guidelines (.pdf)

• Website Links/Electronic Resources/Apps
• Lesion! The Video Game
• Neuro Localizer
• Nerve Whiz

You must log in to view these resources.

To contribute tools/resources for other Clerkship Directors to use, send a pdf file to Nancy Poechmann at npoechmann@aan.com.

Please include the category where the pdf file should be uploaded. Tools/resources are not peer reviewed and have not been endorsed by the AAN.

Medical student neurology clerks should learn the basic knowledge and skills required to effectively diagnose and manage patients with common neurological symptoms and disorders. To that end, the AAN has developed a neurology clerkship curriculum.

The curriculum was developed by the Undergraduate Education Subcommittee of the AAN and endorsed jointly by the AAN, AUPN and ANA.

Individual clerkship directors and medical colleges may use their discretion in developing specific neurology curricula to suit the needs of their students and the AAN Clerkship Core Curriculum Guidelines is an excellent resource to use as a guide when developing these curricula.

• View the Clerkship Core Curriculum Guidelines
• View the Neurology Clerkship Core Curriculum article from the Neurology® Journal

The Clerkship Directory provides information about medical schools that offer neurology clerkships, including the name of the Clerkship Director, the medical school address, and email contact. You can search for neurology clerkships by state or medical school.

Search the Clerkship Directory

The Clerkship Director Teaching and Innovation Awards will be presented at the AAN Annual Meeting during the Clerkship Directors meeting (Saturday, March 16, 2013; 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm; San Diego, CA).

The CNCD proudly announces the recipients of the 2012 Clerkship Directors Awards:

2012 Clerkship Director Teaching Award

Imran I. Ali, MD, FAAN (University of Toledo)
This award recognizes individuals who have dedicated themselves to neurology education and to creating not only future generations of neurologists but also teaching neurology to students choosing other disciplines.

2012 Clerkship Director Innovation Award

David Lardizabal, MD (University of Missouri)
This award acknowledges innovation and creativity in neurology clerkship directors and recognizes individuals who have developed new and creative tools for neurology education.

The CNCD proudly announces the recipients of the first annual Clerkship Directors Awards:

2011 Clerkship Director Teaching Award

Douglas J. Gelb, MD, PhD, FAAN (University of Michigan)
This award recognizes individuals who have dedicated themselves to neurology education and to creating not only future generations of neurologists but also teaching neurology to students choosing other disciplines.

2011 Clerkship Director Innovation Award

Daniel L. Menkes, MD, FAAN (University of Connecticut Health Center)
This award acknowledges innovation and creativity in neurology clerkship directors and recognizes individuals who have developed new and creative tools for neurology education.

The Consortium of Neurology Clerkship Directors has a new web forum!

This forum (on AAN.com) is available for you as a place to communicate with each other about issues affecting undergraduate medical education neurology clerkship programs, share your insights into clerkship management, and discuss controversial issues that challenge the undergraduate medical education environment.

Access the forum