Clinical Neurology & Brain Sciences iBSc for 3rd year MBBS students at UCL

This first module covers an introduction to clinical neurology and aims, right from the start, to give some flexibility from the online lectures covering important fundamentals of neurology. This flexibility will allow focus on the neurology examination with tutor lead sessions. In these key aspects of history taking, examination, differentials and management plans in neurology cases will be covered and practised. These aspects will be covered in a formative setting during this module, including neurology examination skills, allowing practice before the summative assessments of Structured Case Review. The skills covered are fundamental to clinical neurology.

This module will provide a detailed, state-of-the-art overview and analysis of common dementia diseases and syndromes: their epidemiology, clinical and neuroanatomical signatures, clinical genetics and pathology, and algorithms for diagnosis and management. Sessions will be led by senior cognitive neurologists and others at the forefront of translational research in the target diseases. The core syllabus will comprise Alzheimer’s disease and its variant phenotypes, the progressive aphasias, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body disease and syndromes of atypical parkinsonism, vascular cognitive impairment, acute and subacute encephalopathies, and dementias of younger life. Students can gain a detailed theoretical and clinical understanding of the major neurodegenerative diseases as manifestations of underlying brain pathology and anatomical patterns of brain damage.

This module will introduce the anatomy and development of the peripheral nervous system and its physiology and function. It will give the student an overview of clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment options as well as updates on ongoing clinical and basic research trends in peripheral nerve diseases. Lectures are supplemented by teaching on how to utilise and interpret techniques in histopathology, electrophysiology and live imaging (MRI) for diagnosis and clinical trials. This module aims to give the student an understanding of the anatomy and function of the peripheral nervous system and to provide a comprehensive overview of the clinical and scientific aspects of diseases affecting the peripheral nerves.

Stroke is the second commonest cause of death worldwide and a leading cause of disability. Despite this, there can be opportunities to make a real difference very early on in the management of stroke. Given its commonness and impact, such hyperacute stroke treatment is of great importance to both neurologists and medical teams around the world.

The focus of this module is to enable students to localise a stroke using clinical history, signs and imaging findings. It also contains lectures on stroke classification and risk stratification of transient ischaemia. The consequences of stroke affecting the senses are also covered: vision, hearing and the balance system. The ethics of stroke will also be considered, including the management of some of the difficult situations in stroke. 

The module covers the following areas: (i) Motor Control, (ii) Basal Ganglia & Movement Disorders (iii) The Autonomic system. The aim of the module is to provide students with an understanding of the basic science underpinning the study of motor control, and its clinical context, focusing on the study and treatment of movement disorders. At the end of the module, students will have been introduced to the motor system, and motor control.

Topics covered include: Introduction to the motor system; Cortical control of the hand; Motor control theories; Sensory control of action; Basal ganglia-pathophysiology; Parkinson’s Disease; Pathogenesis of Parkinson’s Disease; Atypical Parkinsonism; The neuropathological basis of movement disorders; Hyperkinetic Movement Disorders; Huntington’s disease; Tics and Tourette syndrome; Cerebellar disorders; Spasticity and spastic paraplegia; Basal ganglia speech disorders; Imaging of Movement Disorders; Surgery for movement disorders; Genetics of Movement Disorders; Diagnosis & Treatment of MS; Autonomic function; Neurology of bladder control & sexual function; Pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis; Remyelination mechanisms in demyelinating disease.

This Module has a novel method of assessment with a Poster Presentation. This is a very important skill to have in many areas of neurology and in wider medicine. Especially early in one’s career, there may be opportunities to present work as posters at conferences. Whilst we cannot guarantee that such outcomes would come through this iBSc, we are happy to help guide our students interested in exploring such a possibility. Basic groundwork for this is to prepare skills in Poster presentations. This is planned to be in two parts: 1) Formative assessment: Group work in the seminar on designing and presenting posters followed by individual presentations. 2) Summative assessment: Each student would then prepare a poster in line with the module learning objectives. This would be presented over 15 minutes time to answer any subsequent questions by the assessor.

This module, as with the first module: Introduction to Clinical Neurology, will be based on online lectures including multimedia content supplemented by face-to-face tutor sessions. In this module we look at  significant areas in clinical neurology which have not yet been covered in detail. Areas such as neuroinflammation, neuro-ophthalmology, muscle disease and neuromuscular junction pathology are included. As with the first Module, assessment is with a Structured Case Review. This is also good preparation for presenting cases on ward rounds or neurology meetings as it helps focus our attention on pertinent aspects of the case. The presentation helps learning to present cases and answer clinical follow up questions, as would be expected in clinical practice. These are fundamental not just to neurology but to most branches of medicine. 

This dissertation will take the form of a library project. There will be some degree of flexibility to allow students to suggest their own specific topic in addition to tutor suggested ones. The library project approach gives much more flexibility than traditional research-based project, both in terms of time commitment and choice of topics. Occasionally such dissertations may lead to the potential of trying to develop a submission for consideration of publication in a journal. Whilst we cannot guarantee this would result (and it is not a requirement for the course), any students who are interested in attempting this should let the tutor know as they can provide guidance on this for the student.