Neurology 674
PeaceHealth Neurology
Bellingham, WA
710 Birchwood Ave, Ste 201
Bellingham, WA 98225
Site Director: Conor Sheehy, MD
Ph 360-788-6870
Cell 206-455-0484
Fax 360-788-6872CSheehy@peacehealth.org
Clinic Manager: Sarah Longman, RN
Phone: 360-788-6870, ext 4332
Fax: 360-527-9373
Pre-arrival Requirements
Please complete 4 weeks prior to start of clerkship.
1. Senior clinic manager Sarah Longman will contact you for personal information, and help set up for computer access and badging.
2. Please contact Teresa Perret for the following forms.
- Confidentiality agreement. For the SSN, only the last 4 digits are required to keep your identity safer.
- Student orientation manual
- Quiz
3. The clerkship director will complete the Confirmation of Standards Checklist. Email Dr. Kraus when you have completed:
- Drug screen: Standard panel drug test through the UWSOM is required.
- Confidentiality agreement
- Orientation manual and quiz
Teresa Perret
Program Coordinator Education | Talent Development Support Services
PeaceHealth | 2901 Squalicum Parkway | Bellingham, WA 98225
Tel. 360.788.6781 | tperret@peacehealth.org
Travel & Housing
Housing & transportation: 4-bedroom house shared with peds and OB students. This is a 2700 sf home in a residential neighborhood, one block from the hospital. 2961 Plymouth Dr, Bellingham, WA 98225.
On arrival to Bellingham, go to the Security office within the Hospital. St. Joseph Medical Center is located at 2901 Squalicum Parkway, Bellingham, WA 98225 – one block from the Plymouth Street residence. Security is located on the first floor, down the hall from the East Tower Lobby. Security is open 24/7 so you can sign out a key for the house if you arrive on Sunday. However, a PeaceHealth badge can only be obtained M-F 8-5. Both need to be returned at the completion of this rotation.
For questions please contact
Diana Azevedo
PeaceHealth Medical Group coordinator
DAzevedo@peacehealth.org
360-752-5205
First Day & Orientation
Clerkship orientation: You will need to view the away student orientation video on the Distance Learning page. Please let the clerkship coordinator know if you have questions or any difficulties viewing the video.
Equipment to bring:White coat and name tag, reflex hammer, tuning fork (128Hz), stethoscope, (ophthalmoscope recommended).
First day: Please report to the clinic at 7:45AM.
Course Requirements
Course requirements are listed below. Refer to the Distance Learning page for due dates.
Pocket syllabus: A “pocket syllabus” is available at your site. A printable (PDF) version is also available on the Pocket Syllabus page.
Cases: Two case write-ups are due each week. Further information is available in the orientation video and on the Cases page. Your assigned case numbers are on the Distance Learning page. Please note that your assigned case numbers are different than for the Seattle-based students. Weekly case answers and video lectures will be available on the Distance Learning page on Thursdays after 1PM.
Patient log: You are required to log in the patients you have seen each week. The log is described in the clerkship orientation video. Additional details are on the Patient Log page.
Clinical & Bioethical CEX exercises: You are required to do both a clinical and a bioethical mini-CEX for this course. See the Mini-CEX page for details.
Presentations: Presentation requirements are described in the orientation video and are available on the Presentations page.
Final exam: Your final exam will be held in Seattle. The scheduling/notification process runs through UW Testing Services and the contact email is somtests@uw.edu. See the Final Exam page for information about the exam.
About The Site
Students are expected to spend five days per week with the PeaceHealth neurologists, with time spent divided between the PeaceHealth neurology clinic and St. Joseph Medical Center. Please arrive at the PeaceHealth neurology clinic at 8 AM on the first day of your rotation. Dr. Sheehy will provide you with a weekly schedule when you arrive your first day. It is expected that you will spend 1 week working in the inpatient setting, and 3 weeks working in the outpatient setting.
The best place to park is the back two rows of the parking lot, closest to the trees.
The dress code for the site is business casual.
The PeaceHealth electronic medical record can be accessed by students. Your computer access will be set up prior to your arrival.
We need each student to have a PeaceHealth ID badge. Please go to Security at St. Joseph Medical Center to obtain your ID badge.
During the 4-weeks we hope you have exposure to the entire faculty in our neurology practice.
| Name | Subspecialty |
| Conor Sheehy, MD | Sleep medicine |
| Seema Afridi, MD | Pediatric neurology |
| Bruce Mackay, MD | Vascular neurology |
| Taas King, DO | General neurology |
| Todd Raleigh, MD | Clinical neurophysiology |
| Laura Koehn, MD | Palliative care |
Dr. Conor Sheehy is the clerkship site director. He will observe students’ performance of the neurological examination within the first two weeks of the rotation, and provide feedback. Another observed exam will happen in the last 2 weeks to ensure mastery of the neurological examination. The clinical mini-CEX may be performed with any of the clinic preceptors. Sarah Longman is the clinic coordinator who has control of the schedules and is an excellent resource. Please tell either site director if you have any specific goals for the month so that your experience is maximized.
Inpatient experience: Our neurology group does inpatient consults at St. Joseph Medical Center. Students are expected to see 2-5 inpatients per week on average while working in the inpatient setting. The student is expected to follow their assigned patient from time of initial consultation until discharge or the resolution of the consult issue. Students will write daily progress notes and be involved in decisions regarding medications, laboratory and diagnostic testing orders for the assigned patients. A reasonable guideline is to follow 1-3 patients at any time. There are no weekend or night call responsibilities.
Clinic experience: A combination of three different learning models will be employed in clinic. In the autonomous model, the student sees the patient first and then presents to the preceptor. In the shadow model, the student will follow the preceptor and observe different patient interaction styles. The final model allows the student to evaluate the patient, but in the presence of the preceptor, which provides the opportunity for the most thorough feedback. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Students will see both adults and children in clinic. Other opportunities include observing / reading EMGs, EEGs, and evoked potentials. Experience with a neuro-radiologist may be arranged during the month if desired by the student. Clinic typically runs from 8 AM to 5 PM. There are no weekend or night clinic responsibilities.