The Inpatient Neurology David Michael Dawson (DMD) Ward Service handles all non-ICU inpatient neurology care in the hospital. It is a busy ward service and cares for patients with a variety of neurologic diagnoses, including stroke, neurodegenerative diseases, infections of the nervous system, autoimmune diseases of the nervous system, brain tumors and seizures. It is an excellent opportunity to learn about the inpatient management of neurology problems. You will gain experience taking a history, performing a neurologic examination, localizing the lesion, and formulating the differential diagnosis, and diagnostic and therapeutic plan.
- The team consists of an attending, a PGY 4 resident, 3 PGY 2 residents, and 1-4 students.
- The on call resident and student admit any new patients on a q4 basis and continue to care for the patients admitted previously to them.
- As a student on the service, you should have 1-2 patients that you are following and admit 1-2 patients per call. You should accumulate all the important data and history and perform an examination of the patient. You should write out a detailed H&P and present them to your resident. The resident will also see the patient themselves and review and edit your recommendations as needed. Your note cannot substitute for the resident note.
- You should produce a daily written note on all your patients. However, this note does not substitute for the resident’s note.
- You should continue to follow up test results and accumulate on-going data on all your patients.
- Rounds with the attending will occur daily. You should be prepared to present patients that you saw on rounds and to give updates on follow ups as well.
Common Diagnoses
- Stroke
- Brain tumor
- Seizures
- Neurodegenerative diseases
- Infections of the nervous system
- Autoimmune diseases of the nervous system
