Neurocritical Care

[Woatalk]

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For residents or fellows interested in the feild of Neuro Critical Care:

I find that most attendings in NCC rotate 8-12 weeks/ year, which I understand could be extremely busy but I have always wondered what Neurointensivist are doing when not on service.....In other words, what makes the life of an attending Neurointensivist so demanding?

I only ask because I love working in the unit, but at the same time would like to have a balanced family/social life.
Thanks

 

[typhoonegator]

Well, until recently a lot of them were double boarded in stroke and NCC, so they could do acute stroke call and stroke clinic.

Even without stroke certification, you certainly could still have clinics and other obligations when not in the unit. In our unit, most of the attendings have labs to run, and one is a neurointerventionalist as well as a NCC attending. Another is very active in education. Many have to attend on the wards as well as in the ICU.

So, I guess the job sort of grows to fill (and overfill) the time you have available. And remember, not every ICU is very well-developed right now. Many are just starting out, so call schedules can be much tougher and more frequent, and there can be a lot of administrative responsibilities.

 

[AznTrojan]

For residents or fellows interested in the feild of Neuro Critical Care:

I find that most attendings in NCC rotate 8-12 weeks/ year, which I understand could be extremely busy but I have always wondered what Neurointensivist are doing when not on service.....In other words, what makes the life of an attending Neurointensivist so demanding?

I only ask because I love working in the unit, but at the same time would like to have a balanced family/social life.
Thanks

you must have 5+ neurointensivists if they are only rotating 8-12 weeks a year.. most places are lucky to have 1-2.. there are only about 30-35 applicants in NCC each year.. thankfully job prospects are pretty decent for future neurointensivists..

 

[PhakeDoc]

At my school, we had 2 attendings, each doing approx. 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, with SICU/MICU attendings covering when both the NSICU attendings were at a meeting. One of the 2 attendings was also involved in administration/residency, so took care of that on his "downtime".

 

[nymbarra]

Hi guys,

I'm in the last year of my EM residency. I am interested in critical care and understand that at least some of the NCC programs are open to EM grads. I've always liked managing acute neuro disorders, and would like the challenge of developing expertise in this area as well as critical care. I also realize that there are probably limitations based on my training vs. neuro residency. And yes, I am aware that there is a match process through UCNS.

I just had a few questions for NCC fellows and attendings out there:

1. I've heard that ABMS does not recognize the NCC certification. Is this going to change anytime soon? And does that mean that you are not allowed to work in MICUs/SICUs?

2. How does the training differ based on your residency background? Do EM-trained fellows not do some procedures, e.g., EVDs, TCDs?

3. What programs are considered EM friendly? What programs are generally not?

Thanks for your help!

 

[cautiousvampire]

Hi guys,

I'm in the last year of my EM residency. I am interested in critical care and understand that at least some of the NCC programs are open to EM grads. I've always liked managing acute neuro disorders, and would like the challenge of developing expertise in this area as well as critical care. I also realize that there are probably limitations based on my training vs. neuro residency. And yes, I am aware that there is a match process through UCNS.

I just had a few questions for NCC fellows and attendings out there:

1. I've heard that ABMS does not recognize the NCC certification. Is this going to change anytime soon? And does that mean that you are not allowed to work in MICUs/SICUs?

2. How does the training differ based on your residency background? Do EM-trained fellows not do some procedures, e.g., EVDs, TCDs?

3. What programs are considered EM friendly? What programs are generally not?

Thanks for your help!

Bump. Curious also.

 

[iridesingltrack]

I am in the midst of the application process and coming from EM background. I'll try to answer what I can. My answers are in bold below and are incomplete. The list of "EM friendly" programs is much larger than those listed. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
iride

1. I've heard that ABMS does not recognize the NCC certification. Is this going to change anytime soon? And does that mean that you are not allowed to work in MICUs/SICUs?

I have no idea when/if ABMS will recognize NCC. Some of my current NCC trained faculty work in other units. But, most stay in the Neuro unit. NCC training is a poor work around the CC board issue. If you want to be certain you work in MICU/SICU then do general CC; if you want to work in a Neuro Unit then do Neuro specific training.

2. How does the training differ based on your residency background? Do EM-trained fellows not do some procedures, e.g., EVDs, TCDs?

The EM trained fellows I've worked with do all the same procedures as the neuro trained fellows. All the EM trained fellows have had to take additional time to learn some of the neurology specific themes such as EEG; this is often done in lieu of time in the OR learning to intubate, for example.

3. What programs are considered EM friendly? What programs are generally not?

This question is interesting. I have been very accepted during this process so I believe that everyone is interested in EM but some just don't know what to do with us. Places that I know have interviewed or will interview EM trained candidates include Mass Gen, Columbia, UVa, Emory, UCSF, Wisconsin, Johns Hopkins, Cincinnati, Wash U, MUSC, Penn, off the top of my head. Presently, Duke is the only place that does not fund EM trained fellows that I've encountered. The following programs have, or will have, EM trained individuals in their program: Cincinnati, Johns Hopkins, Wisconsin, UNC, Utah. There are likely others that I just don't know about.