The College's Board of Trustees recently approved the creation of a new neurology department at Dartmouth Medical School during its Fall term meeting on Nov. 7 and 8.
The Board's decision is one of several administrative approvals required to elevate the DMS neurology section's status to that of an official department, according to James Bernat, professor of neurology at DMS. Currently, the neurology program falls under the department of medicine's administration.
The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Board of Trustees is expected to approve the creation of the new department by December, Bernat said.
If the neurology departmen's likely establishment will benefit research, clinical care and teaching, according to Bernat. Currently, the neurology section works with DHMC to explore the understanding and treatment of a variety of disorders involving the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves and muscles, including conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, according to a Nov. 10 news release from DMS.
The recent push to establish the new department comes after six years of deliberations within DMS, according to Bernat.
If the neurology program becomes a formal department, it will gain a chairperson to attend clinical department meetings at DMS and DHMC. The chairperson would help in allocating resources to the department, planning programs and working with other departments, Bernat said.
"Having a seat at that table is important for putting the department's best foot forward," Bernat said.
Additionally, acknowledging neurology as a department would help it secure funding for research, he added.
"When submitting proposals for research grants, the status of 'department' creates a stronger institutional statement than that of 'section,'" he said.
Furthermore, the change should help DMS and DHMC attract faculty, residents and fellows to the neurology program, according to Jeffrey Cohen, professor of neurology at DMS.
While the organizational switch will increase the visibility of the neurology program, it is not expected to immediately impact students' learning on a day-to-day basis, according to both Bernat and Cohen.
"We'll be teaching the same courses and doing the same thing," Bernat said.
Under the new designation, however, the neurology section could potentially alter its role within DMS's M.D. program, as medical students could access the department in their third year instead of waiting until their fourth, Cohen said.
Throughout deliberations, the primary resistance has been a result of financial considerations, according to Bernat. Creating a new department generates expenses, such as those involved in forming new administrative positions, he said.
If the program receives DHMC Board approval in December, it will bring DMS up to date with its peer institutions, Bernat said. Until then, DMS will be one of the few remaining medical schools in the country to operate without a distinct neurology department. Every other Ivy League medical school already has a neurology department.
The general trend of medical schools' decisions to separate neurology from internal medicine has been driven by an increase in our knowledge of the nervous system, according to Cohen.
"The two are now quite separate, divergent disciplines," he said.
College President James Wright called the deliberations on the creation of a neurology department "timely" in an interview with The Dartmouth on Nov. 8. He added that although neuroscience has been a "great strength" within DMS, the decision process to establish a department had been "pending for some time."
"It's been a long haul for us," Cohen added.
The creation of the new department will reflect current activity in neurology research and clinical care beyond DMS.
"Neurology is in a steep period of acquisition of knowledge," Cohen explained.
In addition to professional training at DMS and DHMC, the neurology section also offers a variety of programs for undergraduates at the College. These include neuroscience classes taught by DMS professors, neuroscience and neurology interest groups and shadowing opportunities for the Nathan Smith Pre-medical Society, according to Cohen.
The DMS neurology program was founded in 1939 by one neurologist and has since grown to house 15 faculty members, nine residents, two clinical neurophysiology fellows and five nurse practitioners, according to the DMS press release.
"We are happy to move ahead," Wright said of the program's evolution.
