Multiple Sclerosis

The Multiple Sclerosis Fellowship is a highly integrated, multidisciplinary, 1-year program designed to provide exposure and build competence in diagnosis and management of multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system.

Our goals are to train outstanding neurologists who will be in a position to become leaders and make significant contributions to the field of clinical neuroimmunology, and to create the unique hybrid physician who is technically expert and compassionately driven to improve the lives of patients.

Program Highlights

The Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Fellowship is a one-year program that teaches fellows the skills necessary to treat patients with MS and related disorders including neuromyelitis optica, MOG antibody disease, neurosarcoidosis, central nervous system vasculitis, Susac syndrome, neuro-Behcet disease andautoimmune encephalitis.
All fellowship trainees will participate in ongoing clinical trials to learn clinical trial mechanics, how to interpret findings, research ethics and more.
Additional curriculum will include rotations with Neuro-ophthalmology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Pediatric MS. A variety of elective rotations are also available, weekly Neurology Grand Rounds and more.

Program Curriculum

The fellow’s MS clinical experiences will be in the M Health Fairview MS Clinics working with fellowship-trained MS specialist neurologists Drs. Adam Carpenter, Brittani Conway, and William Schmalstieg.

Elective rotations to include the multidisciplinary teams crucial to MS patient care will be arranged based on the fellow’s subspecialty interests and prior experience. Elective options include the following:

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (including chemodenervation)
Neuro-ophthalmology
Urology
Pediatric Neuroimmunology
Neuroradiology
Neuropsychology
Leukodystrophy clinic

Didactics

Multiple Sclerosis Education Meeting – monthly
Meetings with Program Director – quarterly in-person, monthly virtual
Multiple Sclerosis Clinic Operations Meeting – monthly
Clinical Neuroscience Conference – weekly
Neurology Grand Rounds – weekly

Requirements/Application

Applicants should be completing an ACGME-accredited neurology residency and be ABPN board-eligible before starting the fellowship. Additionally, applicants must be eligible for a full MN Board license.

Please apply to our program through SF Match and their Central Application System.

Applicants meeting the above qualifications are asked to submit the following:

A curriculum vitae
Three letters of recommendation from faculty/mentors on letterhead with signature
A personal statement of interest in this fellowship or career path
Copy of USMLE or COMLEX official score reports
A copy of your current ECFMG certificate (for International Medical Graduates)
Authorization to work in the United States (visa/citizenship status)

This program is unable to sponsor J-1 or H-1B Visas.

While applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, offers will not be made until February 1st the year prior to matriculation (typically G3 year) in accordance with the ACTRIMS unified application and recruitment timeline. The final contract deadline is March 31st for matriculation the same year (G4 year). Fellow selection is accomplished through program faculty review of applicants.

Research & Innovation

Multiple Sclerosis fellows will participate in clinical trials, including becoming certified in EDSS assessment and performing EDSS assessment for trial subjects, identifying potential trial subjects in the clinical setting, and explaining available trials to interested patients.

All fellows must complete minimal training requirements to be engaged in human subject research. This includes the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) basic course and the CITI Good Clinical Practice Course, as well as IRB training.

Fellows are also required to select a research topic for further participation. The topic must be selected before the midyear meeting with the Program Director, and goals discussed at that meeting. Each fellow will present their research at the end of their training year along with fellows from all Neurology programs. These 10-minute presentations are given late May/early June of each year. Fellows may also present research and compete for cash prizes at the Kennedy Research Symposium, typically held in March of each year.

Fellows are expected to submit posters/abstracts to the national conferences on multiple sclerosis.

Fellows will attend at least one national conference during their fellowship.