Our objective was to pilot-test an MS NP fellowship.

In 2017-2018, an AbbVie grant funded the University of California, Riverside (UCR) School of Medicine’s MS NP fellowship.  The fellow devoted 60% effort to supervised MS clinical care, 30% to didactics, and 10% to a Genentech-funded MS research study.  Six neurology faculty and staff used 1-5 Likert scales to rate the fellow, where 1 = “not achieved” and 5 = “aspirational”.  

The fellow provided mentored care for hundreds of MS patients, attended a weekly MS didactic series, site-visited five MS centers and attended annual congresses of the American Academic of Neurology, Consortium of MS Centers and European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS (ECTRIMS).  Performance ratings demonstrated ACGME competencies in patient care (4.5, SD=0.55), medical knowledge (4.0, SD=0), practice-based learning and improvement (4.0, SD=0), interpersonal and communication skills (5.0, SD=0), professionalism (4.8, SD=0.41) and systems-based practice (4.6, SD=0.55).  

Training and research grants funded a formal advanced practice clinician (APC) fellowship in MS.  We believe rigorous APC fellowships can help meet the needs of Americans with MS and other neurological conditions.