Department of Neurology

Public Work and Announcements

Internship at the Department of Neurology of Bogomolets National Medical University

The Department of Neurology at Bogomolets National Medical University has a rich history and tradition of training highly qualified specialists, as the teaching of neurology as a university medical discipline began more than a hundred years ago. The department is proud of its distinguished founders, Professors I. O. Sikorsky, M. M. Lapinsky, V. V. Seletsky, and B. M. Mankovsky, for their significant contributions to the establishment and development of the Ukrainian School of Neurology and to the key areas of clinical neurology.

Over the years, the department has been headed by renowned neurologists: Prof. M. B. Mankovsky, Assoc. Prof. H. D. Bobrovska, Prof. O. A. Yarosh, Prof. S. M. Vinychuk, and Prof. L. I. Sokolova, whose work has contributed to the further scientific progress and clinical achievements of the department. Since the end of 2022, the department has been led by Prof. M. M. Prokopiv, MD, PhD, Honored Doctor of Ukraine.

Due to recent advancements in neurology, there has been a significant breakthrough in the diagnosis and study of the pathogenesis of neurological diseases. The ironic phrase about the limited capabilities of neurology: “Diagnosis bella, curatio nulla, prognosis pessima” has been largely disproved thanks to the improvement of neuroimaging methods, achievements in neurochemistry, and genetics. Neurology is becoming a precise science, and a neurologist is essentially a “polyglot” in medicine. This requires comprehensive and thorough training of specialists, and the Department of Neurology at the National University has every reason to believe that this can be best achieved within its walls.

The Department of Neurology is currently proud of its highly qualified staff: teachers, clinicians, and scientists, as the department employs 5 Doctors of Science (4 of whom are professors), 6 Candidates of Medical Sciences (associate professors and assistants), who are involved in the training of interns. Interns have the opportunity to benefit from the specialized skills and additional expertise of their mentors. This includes access to valuable experience from the Head of the Department, Prof. M. M. Prokopiv, in the implementation of thrombolytic therapy for stroke in the Cerebrovascular Pathology Department of Oleksandrivska Clinical Hospital and scientific analysis of issues related to the organization of the neurology service in Kyiv and ways to improve it. Additionally, the 10-year experience of neuroimmunologist Prof. T. M. Cherenko, the clinical and scientific expertise of Prof. L. I. Sokolova, one of the leading experts on multiple sclerosis in Ukraine, the advanced knowledge of ultrasound diagnostics of vascular diseases by Prof. V. S. Melnyk, and the long-standing experience in epilepsy management by Assoc. Prof. V. Yu. Krylova may be of interest to many.

The department collaborates closely with the administration of 8 leading clinics, which serve as the department’s bases for training interns and students. These are:

• St. Michael’s Clinical Hospital (Kyiv, 39/1 Shovkovychna St.),
• Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 3 (Kyiv, 26 Petra Zaporozhets St.),
• Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 4 (Kyiv, 17 Solomyanska St.),
• Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 6 (Kyiv, 3 Liubomyr Huzar Ave.),
• University Clinic of Bogomolets NMU (Kyiv, 9 V. Vynnychenko St., 19 Sagaydachny St.),
• State Institution “Main Clinical Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine” (Kyiv, 1 Berdychivska St.),
• Children’s Clinical Hospital No. 4 of the Solomyansky District, Kyiv (3 Liubomyr Huzar Ave.),
• Central Polyclinic of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (Kyiv, 18 P. Orlyk St.).

In these clinics, interns have the opportunity to see a wide range of neurological diseases and gain practical experience in their diagnosis and treatment under the guidance of experienced teachers during the in-person training period and continue this process in the distance cycle. The bases are equipped with convenient training rooms, laptops, interactive whiteboards, projectors, and internet access are available for interns.

An important achievement and privilege of the National University, particularly the Department of Neurology (which undoubtedly affects the quality of training of future interns), is the establishment of the University Clinic in 2020, located at 9 Volodymyr Vynnychenko St. This is a multidisciplinary state-level medical institution that integrates three components of a higher medical education institution – education, science, and clinical practice. The clinic, particularly the neurology department, has a powerful clinical and diagnostic laboratory and is constantly being upgraded with modern instrumental equipment. The neurology department (which includes 40 neurology beds and 10 post-stroke rehabilitation beds) has at its disposal a modern electroencephalograph (BE PLUS PRO STANDARD), electromyograph (NeMus PC PERIPHERAL), transcranial magnetic stimulator TMS+rTMS, electrical transcranial stimulator, and the Neofect Smart Balance BLC posturographic system. This allows us to approach global diagnostic standards and motivates the involvement of interns in research work.

The department actively encourages future neurologists, who are trained at various clinical bases, to participate in writing articles (in the 2023-2024 academic year alone – 5 articles!), which were published in scientific journals and collections: “Waldenström Macroglobulinemia: The Mystery of a Clinical Case”, Polyukhovych O. I. (supervisors – co-authors M. M. Prokopiv, T. I. Illyash); “Extrapontine Myelinolysis: Peculiarities of One Clinical Observation”, Orel M. Ya. (supervisor – co-author M. M. Prokopiv); “Clinical Case of Kleine-Levin Syndrome: What to Do?”, M. Ya. Orel (supervisor T. I. Illyash); “Characteristics of Pain Syndrome in Stroke Patients”, Kovalenko O. O. (supervisor – co-author T. M. Cherenko); “Paraneoplastic Neurological Syndromes: A Literature Review and a Clinical Case of Multifocal Cranial Neuropathy of Paraneoplastic Origin”, Tsyhaniy A. V., (supervisor – co-author M. M. Prokopiv).

The main task, to which Prof. T. M. Cherenko (responsible for working with interns at the department) and the curator at St. Michael’s Clinical Hospital, Assoc. Prof. T. I. Illyash, dedicate most of their time, is the training of interns in clinical neurology: topical and syndromic diagnostics of nervous system lesions, gaining knowledge about the current understanding of the etiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of neurological diseases. This is paralleled by the development of communication skills with neurological patients: the ability to identify complaints and collect the medical history (which is the “highest pilotage” for this category of patients); a wide range of practical competencies is formed, which are further refined during the distance part of training (16 months: 8 months each year) under the guidance of curators, who are experienced doctors and heads of neurological departments of clinics.

According to the new program, six months are allocated for in-person training (three months each year of the internship). During the training, interns are offered lectures based on modern national and international guidelines and protocols on the management of neurological diseases; relevant topics and issues of neurology are discussed during seminar sessions; the clinical case method is used – solving real or hypothetical clinical tasks, which allows interns to develop analytical thinking, decision-making, and communication skills with patients; problem-based learning is applied: solving complex diagnostic tasks, which stimulates critical thinking and independent decision-making; the principle of working in small groups is applied; interns are invited to prepare presentations on rare diseases encountered in a neurologist’s practice and to discuss them at seminar sessions.

In the near future, the Department of Neurology plans to conduct advanced training cycles and is developing specialized programs, the topics of which will be available on the website of the Institute of Postgraduate Education.

Admission to the neurology internship is open to graduates of both Bogomolets NMU and other higher medical education institutions in Ukraine or other countries. The cost of training in the neurology internship under contract for 2023-2024 is: 1 month of in-person training – 4000 UAH, 6 months – 24000 UAH.

To obtain comprehensive information about admission to the NMU internship, visit the university website, go to the “Education” section, and then to the “Postgraduate Medical Education” tab. All necessary information for admission to the internship is provided on the “NMU Internship Admissions Information Platform (Main/Graduate/Postgraduate Education/Internship).”

Contacts of the Department of Neurology:
Phone: 044-379-23-19 (Neurology Department of St. Michael’s Clinical Hospital)
Email: neurology@nmu.ua