Contact Us

Program Manager, Epilepsy Fellowship Program
Andrea Ruiz, BGS, C-TAGME
Phone: 305-243-2742
Email: [email protected]

Application Information

Eligibility:
Our program does not participate in a match program. The final fellowship selections are made among the interviewed candidates by the faculty and/or selection committee. All applicants must have satisfactorily completed a residency program in neurology, child neurology or neurodevelopmental disabilities.

How to Apply:
Applicants should apply via ERAS.

  • Valid ECFMG Certificate or ECFMG Documentation (if applicable)

Deadline:
Applicants submit applications through ERAS in November. Program directors have access to applicant information starting in December.

Call Schedule

There is no in-house call schedule. Fellows take calls from home (the schedule varies).

Locations

Jackson Memorial Hospital

1611 N.W. 12th Avenue

Miami, FL 33136

Open in Google Maps

Program Requirements

Medical Licensing Examination:
All applicants must successfully complete United States Medical Licensing Examination Steps 1, 2 and 3 prior to the start of the program.

Postgraduate Training:
There is postgraduate training required in the form of a successfully completed residency program in neurology, child neurology or neurodevelopmental disabilities. The program must be ACGME-accredited; part of ACGME International Advanced Specialty Accreditation; approved by the American Osteopathic Association or accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Visas

The J1-Visa: Alien Physician Program, sponsored by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, is the standard visa for residents/fellows who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

For specific program eligibility/qualifications or additional information, please contact:

Lourdes Boet
Hospital Services Supervisor
Physician Services Department

Jackson Health System
1611 N.W. 12 Ave. ACC West L101
Miami, FL 33136-1122
Phone: 305-355-1122
Fax: 305-355-1123
Email: [email protected]

Epilepsy Fellowship

Mission & Vision

Through advanced structured training and gold-standard, cutting-edge clinical practice, we seek to help develop well-rounded, accomplished epileptologists who will continue our mission of improving patient care and quality of life.

Mission & Vision

Through advanced structured training and gold-standard, cutting-edge clinical practice, we seek to help develop well-rounded, accomplished epileptologists who will continue our mission of improving patient care and quality of life.

Program Director’s Welcome

The University of Miami/Jackson Health System Epilepsy Fellowship Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and includes one year of training during which the trainee will develop the necessary skills to diagnose, evaluate and treat patients with epilepsy. This includes the clinical management of both inpatients and outpatients, as well as the interpretation of routine and prolonged EEGs. We also encourage fellows to take advantage of the diverse research opportunities at the University of Miami’s Level IV UHealth International Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.

During the rotations at Jackson Memorial Hospital and UHealth Tower, a University of Miami Hospital and Clinics Facility, the fellows are exposed to a diverse population and heterogeneous pathology. Due to our South Florida location, our International Comprehensive Epilepsy Center sees some of the most complex epilepsy patients from across the state and internationally, with many coming from different countries, including Central and South America, in order to receive world-class epilepsy care.

Program Director’s Welcome

The University of Miami/Jackson Health System Epilepsy Fellowship Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and includes one year of training during which the trainee will develop the necessary skills to diagnose, evaluate and treat patients with epilepsy. This includes the clinical management of both inpatients and outpatients, as well as the interpretation of routine and prolonged EEGs. We also encourage fellows to take advantage of the diverse research opportunities at the University of Miami’s Level IV UHealth International Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.

During the rotations at Jackson Memorial Hospital and UHealth Tower, a University of Miami Hospital and Clinics Facility, the fellows are exposed to a diverse population and heterogeneous pathology. Due to our South Florida location, our International Comprehensive Epilepsy Center sees some of the most complex epilepsy patients from across the state and internationally, with many coming from different countries, including Central and South America, in order to receive world-class epilepsy care.

Our epilepsy surgical program involves regular multidisciplinary collaboration with neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, neuroradiologists and neuroscientists. Our faculty members are leaders in different areas of epilepsy care including antiepileptic drug clinical trials, psychiatric comorbidities, surgical treatment with laser ablation and women’s issues. We provide an intellectual approach to epilepsy, rigorous formal instruction and broad supervised clinical experience in a friendly environment.

This fellowship supports aspiring neurologists with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for subspecialty practice and/or a research or teaching career in epilepsy. We produce expert board-eligible clinicians who deliver high-quality, patient-centered care, and, at the same time, we foster an academically minded work environment where inquisitiveness is part of everyday practice.

-Naymee Velez-Ruiz, MD

Description

This fellowship supports aspiring neurologists with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for subspecialty practice and/or a research or teaching career in epilepsy. We produce expert board-eligible clinicians who deliver high-quality, patient-centered care, and, at the same time, we foster an academically minded work environment where inquisitiveness is part of everyday practice.

-Naymee Velez-Ruiz, MD

Fast Facts

Accreditation

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education

Number of Fellows per Year?

2

Duration of Fellowship?

1 year

Program Highlights

100% board pass rate

Level IV international comprehensive epilepsy center

Longest-running comprehensive epilepsy center in South Florida with a very distinguished history

Clinical Experience

Year 1

Fellows have extensive exposure to cortical mapping procedures, intracarotid sodium amobarbital procedures (also known as the Wada test), intracranial EEG interpretation and intraoperative electrocorticography. Clinical instruction emphasizes diagnostic and clinical management of patients undergoing diagnostic and/or pre-surgical continuous video EEG at the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, as well as critically ill patients being evaluated with long-term video EEG at the neurology intensive care unit.

The Epilepsy Fellowship is divided into five main rotations, and how much time the fellows spend in each one is determined by ACGME requirements and the individual fellow’s interests.

Rotations

UHealth Tower
During the rotation at the UHealth Tower Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, fellows take care of patients undergoing diagnostic and/or pre-surgical evaluation with phase I and II continuous video EEG. During this rotation, fellows learn to perform and interpret cortical mapping procedures, intracranial EEG studies and intraoperative electrocorticography.

Jackson Memorial Hospital
The rotation at Jackson Memorial Hospital involves reading and interpreting the long-term video EEG studies of critically ill patients in the neurology intensive care unit. During this rotation, fellows learn to diagnose and treat complex patients with subclinical seizures and status epilepticus along with the NICU team.

Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Trainees also rotate through the VA Medical Center where they take care of veterans in the outpatient clinical setting as well as in the inpatient epilepsy monitoring unit. During this rotation, fellows learn about post-traumatic epilepsy, psychiatric comorbidities of epilepsy and cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of some of these comorbidities.

Outpatient Clinics at UHealth at The Professional Arts Center/Jackson Memorial Hospital Outpatient Center
During this outpatient rotation, fellows participate in clinics with different attending epileptologists and learn to diagnose and treat patients with epilepsy, including reading outpatient routine EEGs with the different attending epileptologists. Some of the clinics’ fellows have exposure to include the “first seizure clinic” (for patients with new-onset seizures), the “intractable epilepsy clinic,” “pregnancy and epilepsy clinic,” the “Epilepsy Foundation clinic” and the “NeuroPace or Responsive Neurostimulation (RNS) clinic.”

Research/Elective Rotation
Fellows have the opportunity to do a research and/or elective rotation. Some of the electives available to fellows include: intraoperative monitoring, neuroradiology and sleep. During the first month of training, fellows participate in an introductory epilepsy course consisting of a one-and-a-half-hour didactic session every day for eight weeks. This is followed by a one-hour didactic session every Tuesday during which the following formats can include: case presentations, formal talks on interdisciplinary topics, journal club and research project presentations. The fellows also participate in other interdisciplinary conferences every week including EEG reading with the Jackson Memorial Hospital Neurology Consult team on Wednesdays and cvEEG reading with the Jackson MemorialNICU team every Thursday.

Your Faculty

Marcela Coutts, MD
Assistant Professor, Clinical Neurology

Kamil Detyniecki, MD
Assistant Professor, Neurology

Andres M. Kanner, MD
Chief, Epilepsy Division
Director, International Comprehensive Epilepsy Center
Professor, Clinical Neurology

Maria R. Lopez, MD
Associate Professor, Neurology
Co-Director, Epilepsy Center for Excellence, Bruce W. Carter Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Merridith Lowe, MD
Assistant Professor, Neurology

Alessandra Milesi-Halle, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Clinical Pediatric Neurology

Alyssa Pensirikul, MD
Assistant Professor, Clinical Neurology and Pediatrics

Gustavo J. Rey, PhD
Associate Professor, Clinical Neurology

Leticia Tornes, MD
Associate Professor, Clinical Neurology
Associate Vice-Chair, Graduate Medical Education
Director, Neurology Residency Program

Naymee J. Velez-Ruiz, MD
Assistant Professor, Neurology
Director, Epilepsy Fellowship Program

Alumni Placements Include:

Access Physicians
Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix
Middlesex Health
University of Arizona College of Medicine
UT Health Science Center at Houston
Various private practices

Alumni Placements Include:

Access Physicians
Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix
Middlesex Health
University of Arizona College of Medicine
UT Health Science Center at Houston
Various private practices