Ambulatory neurology in residency training programs: a perspective

Inpatient care and teaching have been the central theme in academic medicine, including neurology, for the last several decades. However, pressures from within and outside of medicine are building to create a renewed commitment to ambulatory care and education. Most neurology training programs have not yet made that commitment. They should do so for the benefit of both the patients and residents served by the programs. Effective outpatient clinic training programs should include full-time staff devoted to ambulatory care, teaching, and research. The practicing clinical neurology staff could be used more effectively. Regular chart review, case management conferences, and other teaching strategies, and the reorganization of the clinic to include private patients, as well as group practice and interdisciplinary team concepts, could improve both the patient care and resident training in the neurology clinic.