This is a 2-year (i.e., 24 month) training experience (starting in August or September) that involves overlapping clinical experiences. Residents will be assigned a primary and secondary supervisor for each year of the residency and will carry a caseload of approximately three to four outpatient evaluations per week. Residents will be immersed in the practice of general adult neuropsychology throughout the duration of their training experience. All residents are provided with a minimum of two hours a week of individual supervision and often receive much more. Limited technician support may be available.
Core Training Experiences
General Neuropsychology Clinic
Throughout the training experience, neuropsychology residents will hone their diagnostic skills by participating in our general neuropsychology clinic. The bulk of referrals come from neurology and primary care, which allows residents to gain experience with a variety of presenting problems. Individuals presenting for evaluation of mild cognitive impairment or dementia make up the largest proportion of our referrals, making this residency program an excellent fit for fellows wishing to develop subspecialty expertise in memory care. Individuals with psychiatric conditions, multiple medical comorbidities, traumatic brain injuries, cerebrovascular disorders (e.g., stroke), multiple sclerosis, sleep disorders and movement disorders are also well represented in our patient population.
Memory and Aging Care Clinic (MACC)
Residents will be able to gain an appreciation for rapid evaluation and feedback to patients through our MACC, which is designed for individuals who will be best served by an abbreviated assessment approach. Typically interview, testing and feedback to the patient are all completed on the same day. The resident will learn how to detect, differentiate and stage neurodegeneration in its myriad forms while minimizing patient burden through focused and efficient assessment approaches.
Spinal Cord Stimulator Evaluations
Residents will have the opportunity to conduct evaluations for individuals being considered for spinal cord stimulator placement. These targeted psychological evaluations allow residents to further develop competency in the nuances of pre-surgical assessment. Residents will be able to further develop their skills in medical communication and appreciation for multidisciplinary patient care. These referrals come from within Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Health Network and from pain management clinics within the community.
Didactics
Residents are expected to participate in a minimum of 2 hours of didactic training per week, although there are opportunities for residents to participate in many more activities as their schedules allow.
Neurology Grand Rounds
Grand rounds are offered by the Department of Neurology and residents are encouraged to attend relevant topics.
Weekly AABN Didactics
Residents are required to attend weekly didactics associated with the Academy of the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology, which feature residents and training faculty at various AABN sites. Residents are also required to present at these didactics.
Clinical Neuroanatomy Seminar (Wake Forest University School of Medicine)
A monthly clinical neuroanatomy seminar is offered in conjunction with Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Brain Cuttings (Wake Forest University School of Medicine)
Brain cuttings are offered as available at the main hospital campus in Winston-Salem.
Allied Neuropsychology Didactics
Residents will have the opportunity to attend other didactics as available and appropriate, such as those associated with the VISN 6 MIRECC at Salisbury Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Wake Forest University School of Medicine Neuropsychology Fellowship Program.
Research
Our program adheres to a scientist-practitioner model of training and our faculty members are actively involved in research. Although the residency is primarily a clinical training experience, fellows are expected to be engaged in scientific and scholarly activity during their time in the program. This typically involves a project resulting in the creation of a final work product, such as a poster presentation at a national conference or a journal article.
Interprofessional Experiences
In accordance with Houston Conference guidelines and prevailing trends within the healthcare marketplace, our setting emphasizes multidisciplinary care. The Westchester Building is an ambulatory care center that is home to multiple medical services including: neurology, rheumatology, sleep medicine, women’s health and internal medicine among others. In addition to clinical work and shared didactic opportunities, residents will have the opportunity for direct observation of allied health disciplines (e.g., neurology) as staffing and circumstances allow.