About the Program

We appreciate your interest in the Epilepsy Fellowship Training Program at the University of Cincinnati Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine.

Our program provides fellows with the skills and knowledge necessary to diagnose and treat the most complicated clinical problems in the areas of epilepsy.  We have 8 adult epilepsy faculty members who have subspecialty training in epilepsy and will provide you with the training necessary to become a skilled physician in those areas.

Many of the Epilepsy Division members are national and international leaders in the field. Dr. Privitera served as President of the American Epilepsy Society in 2016. The AES is the largest organization in the world of professionals involved in epilepsy diagnosis, treatment and research. Dr. Ficker is the founder and former Chair of the AES Epilepsy Fellowship Committee and serves as Chair of the Epilepsy Foundation Professional Advisory Board.  Dr. McKee has served as Director of the AES Annual Course.  Many faculty members have lectured throughout the US and the world.

Clinical expertise

Our clinical expertise is in the evaluation and treatment of seizures, whether medication resistant, new onset, or requiring advanced video/EEG monitoring or surgery. All our faculty have advanced training in epilepsy and EEG.  

The UCGNI Epilepsy Center provides sophisticated evaluation and coordinated medical and surgical treatment of epilepsy. The center's 8-bed adult Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) at University of Cincinnati Medical Center's main campus along with the 4-bed satellite EMU at West Chester Hospital are the only ones of their kind in southwest Ohio. Over 5000 patients have been evaluated in our inpatient Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. Advanced strategies like stereo-EEG, ictal SPECT, and laser ablations for surgery have improved both the effectiveness and safety of epilepsy surgery. All surgical cases are discussed in our multidisciplinary conference where experts in Neurology, Neurosurgery, Brain Imaging and Neuropsychology all collaborate to provide our patients the best outcome.

We also provide continuous video-EEG monitoring in all the intensive care units and acute care settings at UC Medical Center and at West Chester Hospital so that any patient with altered consciousness can be rapidly evaluated and monitored for the development of seizures or life-threatening status epilepticus. We were one of the first centers in the country to offer this service and our early publications on the topic are recognized as seminal work in the field.

The UC Epilepsy Center's New Onset Seizure Clinic provides rapid access to epilepsy specialists for anyone with new onset of seizures or suspected seizures. Our epilepsy specialists see people within a few days to perform a comprehensive evaluation, create a treatment plan and provide education about the disorder. We believe people with a serious problem like a seizure should have access to the top specialists and the best treatments right from the start. Multiple studies in the US show that people with epilepsy wait much too long before they are seen by experts at an epilepsy center.

There are many research opportunities available to enhance your education and help fulfill your career goals. 

Current research focuses on: 

• *Using a combination of physiological markers to predict the occurrence of seizures in order to ultimately prevent seizures 
• *The impact of hormonal forms of contraception on the occurrence of seizures in women with epilepsy
• *Several novel antiseizure medications for the treatment of medication-resistant epilepsy
• *Cannabidiol and its long term impacts on liver structure and function
• *Best practices for transitioning epilepsy patients from the pediatric to adult care settings to improve self-care and minimize seizure exacerbations
• *Epilepsy self-management programs to help patients develop skills that improve long term seizure control 
• *Multiple studies on cognitive function and epilepsy including long term risk of dementia in patients  who have previously undergone epilepsy surgery

Throughout the years, our program has trained many excellent fellows who are now practicing epilepsy and neurology in either academic centers or private practice settings.