Ambulatory Neurology

The mission of the Ambulatory Neurology Continuity Clinic of the residency program is to provide high-quality ambulatory neurologic care and advance resident education and engagement in ambulatory neurology. 

Our residents participate in half week-long clinic blocks which occur approximately every four weeks. 

The continuity clinic has recently been restructured. The resident has four sessions of continuity clinic every four weeks. Two of those sessions are in general neurology and the other two are in subspecialities.  The resident switch subspecialties each year which allows each residents to have in-depth exposure to six core subspecialties over the course of their training.  During that clinic elective week, the residents also have one half day of EMG and one half day of small group tutorials. Sample schedule below:

This clinic allows an exciting opportunity to build their own practice and develop the necessary outpatient skills in a supervised setting. Residents are exposed to a broad range of both common and rare neurological disorders in a diverse patient population. The residents are supervised by the outstanding faculty who practice general and subspecialty neurology. Our department has the distinct advantage of representation by faculty who are leaders in general neurology and across the subspecialty disciplines.

Location

Neurological Institute of New York, 710 West 168th Street, NY. 

Patient Population

The patient population reflects the diversity of our city and includes patients from all socieconomic backgrounds and from the immediate neighborhood, New York City, and the tristate area. 

As of 2023, we no longer have a separate resident-only clinic. All patients are seen in one clinic in the main Neurological Institute, regardless of type of insurance or socioeconomic status. This merger was critical to our mission of equity. It also provides more supervision and 1:1 teaching for the residents.

Many patients who live in our neighborhood are from the Dominican Republic and speak primarily Spanish. Some of our residents speak Spanish, but many utilize the translation services which are always available to provide the best communication possible with our non-native English-speaking patients.

Resident Education

At Columbia, we recognize the importance of a strong ambulatory training experience and education as part of the residency training in Neurology. At major academic medical centers there is a significant amount of inpatient services, and most neurology residency programs place emphasis on the inpatient experience. However, it is increasingly recognized that ambulatory training is crucial as most neurology residents will practice in the outpatient setting upon graduating. We therefore strive to incorporate a rigorous outpatient training experience for our residents, with an emphasis on continuity of care, excellence in patient care, and academic achievement. Every resident has one week dedicated to clinic every 4 weeks via an x+y schedule.