Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Fellowship-Riverside
Why Choose Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology at Riverside Methodist Hospital
Our fellowship program is designed to bring you up to speed smoothly, while learning from the best minds in the field.
Program Overview
The OhioHealth Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Fellowship is a one or two-year program with the principal goal of providing expert training in the clinical care of patients with multiple sclerosis and related conditions. This effort is supported by a full complement of staff in one of the most innovative comprehensive MS centers in the world.
Our clinic consists of Dr. Jacqueline Nicholas (academic fellowship-trained MS specialist), Dr. Geoffrey Eubanks (a clinical neurologist with a focus on MS), two MS nurse practitioners and an MS fellow. There are also nurses, medical assistants, a full-time MS licensed social worker, two full-time neuro-physical therapists, a full-time MS research coordinator and an adjoining infusion center with 12 beds and its own full-time pharmacist and pharmacy resident. All labs are drawn on site. Also adjoining our center is a patient library and meeting center equipped with large-screen touch/smart screens for conferencing and presentations where outreach and support groups are held three to four times per month. There is a radiology suite directly underneath our clinic with state-of-the-art 3T MRI scanners. All of these resources are housed within the brand new OhioHealth Neuroscience Center on the campus of Riverside Methodist Hospital.
Off-site we collaborate with our inpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation group, neuroophthalmology, neuropsychology and psychiatry.
The fellow will work three days per week seeing his or her own patients. There is a very collaborative effort among all staff members. This creates an environment where patients may be seen by PT or LSW or research coordinators during their visits or be sent for infusion as needed. Clinic includes patients with MS and related diseases ranging from NMOSD to CNS vasculitis to neurosarcoidosis.
In addition to our neuroimmunology clinic, there is a large spasticity clinic staffed by the same team. We utilize intrathecal baclofen pumps and botox injections in addition to oral medications. The fellow will learn these skills to round out their skill set as a clinical neuroimmunologist.
The remaining two days of the week are used to improve academic aspects of MS practice. The fellow will be expected to develop a thorough understanding of the “canon of MS literature”. This is also an opportunity to develop research interests for papers, posters and podium presentations at both national and international conferences. The structured literature topics are also used to direct our monthly journal clubs, which are led by the fellow.
Furthermore, there will be time to participate in our clinical trials to remain on the cutting edge of MS therapies and be able to offer the most to our patients. The fellow will participate in study design from development of primary and secondary outcome measures to IRB correspondence, patient recruitment, consent form preparation, randomization, safety monitoring and evaluation, and data analysis. The fellow will partake as the treating physician in some trials and as the blinded evaluator in others, as well as develop familiarity with the EDSS and MSFC.