Institution and Program Description

Institutional Mission
Clinical training occurs within the Medical College of Georgia Health System. The MCG Health System has a tripartite mission: (1) to provide exceptional patient care, (2) to foster medical education and training, and (3) to conduct leading-edge research. In addition to clinical training in the hospitals and clinics, didactic training is also available through the basic science departments of MCG's School of Medicine, School of Allied Health Sciences, and School of Graduate Studies and is tailored to the individual resident's training needs.

Program Mission & Goals
The postdoctoral fellowship program's mission is to provide the necessary education and training required to produce an advanced level of competence in neuropsychology so that residents may enter the specialized practice of clinical neuropsychology at the independent practitioner level. The program will enable the resident to acquire advanced skills in neuropsychological assessment, treatment, and consultation as well as an advanced understanding of brain-behavior relationships. The training site routinely provides access to patients referred primarily from neurology and neurosurgery, but also from the general medicine, psychiatry, and pediatric services.

Program Administrative Structure
The clinical neuropsychology postdoctoral fellowship program is conducted under the auspices of the Adult Neuropsychology Service within the Department of Neurology in the MCG School of Medicine under the direction of one board-certified (ABPP-CN) clinical neuropsychologist. Experience and training in pediatric neuropsychology may be arranged for interested residents in the Pediatric Neuropsychology Service within the Department of Neurology (Division of Child Neurology) under the supervision of a pediatric neuropsychologist.

Clinical Training Facilities
Clinical training takes place through the MCG Health System which is composed of the MCG Medical Center (483-bed adult hospital), MCG Ambulatory Care Center (more than 80 outpatient clinics), MCG Specialized Care Center (a 13-county Level I regional trauma center), and the 149-bed MCG Children's Medical Center.

Neuropsychology Clinic
The Adult Neuropsychology Service's clinic is physically located within the MCG Medical Center on the eighth floor, which is several floors above the Neurology and Neurosurgery faculty offices and neurology/neurosurgery inpatient beds. The Neurology Library and neurology resident offices and conference rooms are also located on the third floor of the hospital. The Adult Neuropsychology Service occupies 8 offices, testing rooms, and a file room consisting of approximately 1,000 square feet of space. The service is staffed by a full-time secretary devoted to neuropsychology and a full-time psychometrician. The resident's office is completely equipped with a computer and all major neuropsychological test materials and also serves as a testing room. Most library resources may be accessed online via computer. The Neuropsychology Service has its own books and journals devoted to neuroscience, behavioral neurology, neuropsychiatry, and neuropsychology. Residents also enjoy full access and have borrowing privileges at the Neurology Departmental Library and the MCG campus library located a short walking distance behind the hospitals.

Client Population Served
Neuropsychological evaluations will be performed on inpatients and outpatients from the neurological, surgical, general medical, and psychiatry services. Residents will routinely be exposed to patients with epilepsy, traumatic brain injuries, neurodegenerative conditions, tumors, cerebrovascular disorders, movement disorders, and psychiatric disturbances. Specialty training in the role of neuropsychology in an epilepsy surgery program through observing and conducting procedures such as the intracarotid amobarbital (Wada) procedure and extraoperative (from grid and depth electrodes) and intraoperative cortical mapping is available. Residents will also participate in independent medical examinations and neuropsychological legal consultations.