Neurology 634
Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC)
Anchorage, AK
4315 Diplomacy Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
Site Director: Brian Trimble, MD
Cell 907-947-1220
btrimble@anthc.org
GME Coordinator: Norman Reeves
Phone: 907-729-4771
Fax: 907-729-1542
Pre-arrival Requirements
- Prior to arriving for your clerkship: Contact Norman Reeves (nwreeves@anthc.org) FOUR WEEKS prior to beginning your clerkship. They will send you application forms. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all required forms are received by Alaska Native Medical Center. It is highly recommended that you follow up to confirm materials are received prior to starting your rotation.
- Drug screen: Standard panel drug test through the UWSOM is required. Drug test must be completed within 30 days of start date.
- Letter of Good Standing (LOGS): Required for this site. Please go to your E*Value profile and download the LOGS to send. Instructions if needed.
Review the housing and other important information in this document.
Travel & Housing
Housing & transportation: Please click on the “Alaska Housing Information” link above for complete details about the housing and what to do upon your arrival in Anchorage. There is also information about car rental.
Computer access: Wi-fi internet is available in all housing, but you will need your laptop.
First Day & Orientation
Clerkship orientation: You will need to view the away student orientation video on the Distance Learning page. Please let the clerkship director 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: Someone from Alaska Native Medical Center will contact you shortly before you start with details on where to report on your first day. If you don’t hear from them by the week before your arrival, please contact them.
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 Anchorage. 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.
Shyla Dema, Administrator – Program Operations
Phone: 907-786-4744
sdema@uw.edu
WWAMI – Alaska’s Medical School
University of Washington School of Medicine
Office of Clinical Medicine & Regional Programs
3211 Providence Drive, HSB 301G
Anchorage, AK 99508
Fax: 907-786-4700
About The Site
General: The Alaska Native Medical Center is a unique facility that serves as referral center for about 120,000 Alaska Natives as well as for Native Americans in Alaska. There are 5 distinct native cultures in Alaska making the population we serve quite diverse. Students are expected to spend five days per week at Alaska Native Medical Center.
Parking is adjacent to the facility. The lots closest to the hospital are reserved for patients. The student apartment is within walking distance to the hospital.
Computer Access & Orientation: The computer system can be accessed by students. Computer training is a planned part of orientation. There is a mandatory one day orientation, which should be done as soon as possible, as patients cannot be examined by the student until the orientation is complete. The medical staff office will arrange your orientation.
Faculty:
| Name | Subspecialty |
| Brian Trimble, MD | General, Stroke |
| Scot Hines, MD | General, Epilepsy, EMG |
| Tasha Powell, MD | General |
Students will spend most of their time with Dr. Brian Trimble, who is a full time neurologist at ANMC. Students also interact with internist-hospitalists and other specialists.
Dr. Trimble is the clerkship site director. He will observe student performance of the neurological examination within the first two weeks of the rotation, and provide ongoing feedback throughout the rotation in order to facilitate improvement and refinement of the student’s neurological examination. The clinical mini-CEX will be performed with Dr. Trimble, but may be performed with another staff neurologist if Dr. Trimble is not available. Please tell the site director if you have any specific goals for the month so that your experience is as good as possible.
Inpatient Experience: Our neurology service is hospital-based so has inpatient and outpatient
services. Students will be able to see inpatients independently and will be expected to follow inpatients while those patients are on the neurology service or are active consults. The student is expected to follow assigned patients from time of (admission / consultation) until discharge or the resolution of the consult issue, write daily progress notes and be involved in decisions regarding medication, laboratory and diagnostic testing for the assigned patients. A reasonable guideline is to follow 1-3 patients at any time. CNS injury rounds are held 8:30 Thursday mornings in the social services conference room on the second floor. Those rounds are multidisciplinary; all inpatients hospitalized with neurological disorders are discussed there. Internal medicine grand rounds are 12:00 to 1:00 on Thursdays in conference room 2. There are no weekend or night call responsibilities.
Clinic Experience: The outpatient service is where students can conduct the neurological examination with the preceptor present. New patients are scheduled for 40 minutes and follow-up patients for 20 minutes. Because of the need to work efficiently in clinic, students cannot see patients there independently. Independence can be expressed on the inpatient service. However, students can actively be involved in history taking or other aspects of the overall evaluation. The clinic is a particularly good place to develop an orderly neurological examination with immediate feedback. Students will be introduced to EEG and EMG and nerve conduction testing and interpretation thereof.
There is also opportunity for interaction with neurosurgeons and a neuropsychologist. The clinic typically runs from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Monday-Wednesday and half days Thursday and Friday. Generally, students will be primarily in clinic one week and on the inpatient service the next.