Undergraduate Education in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences

Overview

Medical students are taught about the neurosciences in the first course of the second year of the undergraduate curriculum. The course is provided over an eight week period at the beginning of the second year in the three-year curriculum.  The neurosciences component of the course is combined with content from geriatrics, otolaryngology and ophthalmology to give ‘Course V – Neurosciences, Aging and Special Senses’. The course is given under the auspices of the Undergraduate Medical Education office of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary.

The neurosciences content in the course begins with a presentation of the functional anatomy and physiology required to approach patients who present with neurological complaints.  The remainder of the course covers clinical presentations of neurologic illness as well as sessions devoted to specific neurologic conditions.

The course is taught by approximately 130 teachers, including 60 from the department of Clinical Neurosciences. The content of the course is delivered via a combination of lectures, patient presentations, small group seminars and bedside teaching sessions. The course is developed and administered by the Course V Committee, co-chaired by Dr. Kevin Busch from the division of Neurology. The majority of the course committee members are from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences.

The course has always been well received by the students and is consistently ranked highly in comparison to the other courses offered in the pre-clerkship curriculum.

Course V Committee 2008

Kevin Busche (Co-Chair)
Darren Burback (Co-Chair)
David Patry (Evaluations Coordinator)
Jeff Joseph
Paolo Federico
Sarah Furtado
Gary Klein
Cory Toth
Walter Hader
James Scott
Colin Powell
Chandrasekaran Sivakumar
Karin Verstraten
Vivian Hill
Beth Lange
Daryl Wile
Janel Nadeau
Tim Ramos