Developing a Curriculum for Functional Neurological Disorder in Neurology Training: Questions and Answers

Authors

• Sara A. Finkelstein, Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA. Electronic address: safinkelstein@mgh.harvard.edu.
• M Angela O'Neal, Division of General Neurology, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 60 Fenwood Road, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: maoneal@bwh.harvard.edu.
• Gaston Baslet, Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 60 Fenwood Road, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
• Barbara A. Dworetzky, Division of Epilepsy, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 60 Fenwood Road, Boston, MA 02115, USA.Follow
• Ellen Godena, Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
• Julie Maggio, Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Physical Therapy, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
• Daniel Millstein, Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
• Tracey Milligan, Department of Neurology, Westchester Medical Center Health Network, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA.Follow
• David L. Perez, Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.

Author Type(s)

Faculty

DOI

10.1016/j.ncl.2023.02.007

Journal Title

Neurologic Clinics

First Page

711

Last Page

728

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-1-2023

Department

Neurology

Keywords

Dissociative seizures, Education, Functional movement disorder, Functional neurological disorder, Functional seizures, Neurology, Psychiatry, Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, Teaching

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

Functional neurologic disorder (FND) is a common condition for which neurology residents often receive little to no formal teaching. Using a question-and-answer format, this article puts forward a case for why an FND curriculum is needed and aims to provide guidance on possible curricular content including medical knowledge, clinical skills, communication, and team-based collaboration. The authors also discuss methods for teaching and evaluating this knowledge and associated clinical skills, linking this to current Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education neurology milestones. Finally, the authors consider how to better engage and energize neurology trainees around this underserved yet challenging patient population.

Recommended Citation

Finkelstein, S. A., O'Neal, M. A., Gaston Baslet., Dworetzky, B. A., Godena, E., Maggio, J., Millstein, D., Milligan, T., & Perez, D. L. (2023). Developing a Curriculum for Functional Neurological Disorder in Neurology Training: Questions and Answers. Neurologic Clinics, 41 (4), 711-728. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ncl.2023.02.007