Movement Disorders Fellowship Contact

Description

University of Florida Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration: This fellowship is specially designed for excellent candidates interested in Movement Disorders.  The fellows are housed in a state of the art 10,000 square foot floor that has all interdisciplinary services in one place.  It is a one of a kind facility. Unique to this experience will be training identification and treatment of all movement disorders (parkinsonism, tremor, dytonia, tic, myoclonus, peripheral, etc), training in clinical trials, and training in stereotaxic surgery and neurophysiology for movement disorders surgery (programming and intra-operative placement). The fellow actually goes into the OR, and also does the actual DBS programming. The fellowship is 1-2 years, and offers a comprehensive experience including superior teaching from a faculty with expertise in movement disorders, clinical trials, stereotaxic surgery, imaging for movement disorders surgery, and detailed microelectrode mapping techniques. The fellow will receive superior teaching and will have access to one of the largest organized clinical and video databases of movement disorders in the world (5000+ patients). The goal of the fellowship is to turn out truly outstanding movement disorders experts. The University of Florida Movement Disorders Center boasts a team of over 25 clinical and research faculty members. Fellows will have exposure and teaching from any and all faculty. There are individual experts in movement disorders neurology (5 fellowship trained movement experts and 2 ataxia experts), movement disorders neurosurgery, neuropsychology, psychiatry, voice analysis, speech and swallowing, as well as gait and kinematics. Through a truly interdisciplinary approach fellows will learn the clinical and research tools necessary for a successful career. The center team meets once a week to discuss the best movement disorder cases in a video teaching format. There are scholarly talks, a monthly didactic lecture series covering movement disorders phenomenology, and a didactic teaching lecture series on movement disorders physiology.  There is also a complex case conference, DBS interdisciplinary conference and a clinical trials conference.  The Brain Institute has four laboratories dedicated to movement disorders (Stem cell, Viral Vector, Cognitive, and Quantitative Analysis Laboratory). Fellows will have the option of shaping their experience toward clinical, trials, surgical, basic science or any combination. The emphasis is on training outstanding movement disorders neurologists. Those candidates interested in academic careers will be mentored and taught to write NIH style grants, and given opportunities to become successful in publishing papers in peer reviewed journals. Those interested in clinical practice and/or teaching will get that tailored opportunity.  The faculty of this program are interested in clinical teaching, as well as research. The center receives funding from the NIH, Michael J Fox Foundation, NPF, the Smallwood Foundation, and many other grant sources. The center also holds memberships with the Parkinson’s Study Group, Huntington’s Study Group, Dystonia Study Group, and DBS Study Group. UF Movement Disorders is a peer reviewed center of excellence in Parkinson’s disease, dystonia and ataxia. We pride ourselves on tailoring the experience to the fellow’s needs whether clinical or research. We believe fellows should be given the opportunity to be first author on as many papers and grants as possible during their experience. We have seven trained movement disorders neurologists with expertise and specialty clinics in broad areas (Parkinson, PSP and Atypical Parkinsonism, Dystonia, DBS, Huntington’s, Ataxia, Tremor, Tourette, and other movement disorders). Interested applicants should send a CV and 3 letters of recommendation to Dr. Okun (Fellowship Program Director); okun@neurology.ufl.edu and also go to the department of neurology website and fill out the online application for fellowship training at UF- http://www.neurology.ufl.edu/meded/fellowship/index.shtml

Those interested in a Movement Disorders Fellowship with the University of Florida may fill out the form below. Candidates must also send a letter of interest and 3 letters of recommendation to Dr. Michael Okun’s attention at this address:

University of Florida, Department of Neurology
100 S Newell Drive, L3-100
Gainesville, FL 32610-0236