The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York

The Columbia Movement Disorders Fellowship Program was founded in 1980 by Stanley Fahn. A total of 129 fellows have been trained, and over 80% of fellowship graduates are in academic and industry research positions. Our program is notable for its unique combination of superb, broad-based clinical training with diverse and intensive research opportunities. The fellowship is a 2-year program that offers both clinician and research training tracks, while allowing the flexibility to meet the individual academic goals of each fellow. The clinician track emphasizes clinical training, ensuring coverage of all relevant skills. The first year focuses on routine outpatient evaluations and introduces skills such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) programming and botulinum toxin (BTx) injections. In the second year, fellows develop expertise in DBS and BTx, and pursue clinical electives. Fellows will also engage in tailored research projects of suitable scope, e.g. authoring review articles or case series, or participating in clinical trials. The research track aims to provide fellows with the foundations for a research-centered career in academic neurology. The program provides protected time in the 2nd (and, if applicable, 3rd) year to devote to research activities. Fellows in this track are expected to apply for mentored research awards/grants. During the first year, fellows spend 50% of their time in direct patient care activities. In the second year, clinical time drops to allow more time for research activities. For a 2nd year fellow on the clinical track, 30-40% of their time will be spent on clinical activities; for the research track, it would be 10-20%. Mentoring is a critical component of the fellowship program. Fellows are assigned a faculty advisor when they begin the program to guide their career development and selection of scientific and clinical mentors. Feedback on performance is collected by the fellowship director and shared biannually.