Neurology day 3

The day started with my weekly PCR test. Yes, you read that correctly, I am required to take a COVID-19 PCR test every week, and a lateral flow test (LFT) every 2-3 days.

The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN) is part of UCL's Queen Square Institute of Neurology. It is the first hospital in England dedicated to treating diseases of the nervous system, exclusively. I did some research and it is also ranked third in the world for Neurology and Neurosurgery. It is truly an honour and a privilege for me to complete my Neurology rotation here, and have the opportunity to learn at such a high level. 

I spent today over in the NHNN at the Epilepsy Outpatient Clinic with a nice Professor. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinic is still only seeing 50% of patients in-person; thus, there were a mixture of face-to-face consultations and video/telephone calls. All the appointments were follow-ups to see how the patients were getting on and if they required any adjustments in their anti-epileptic medications. 

I learnt about Cenobamate, a new anti-epileptic drug, which was approved for medical use in Europe in 2021 and recently came on the market. This was news for me. I had Pharmacology in my third year and had never heard of this drug before today. It is used as a third-line treatment in patients with focal epileptic seizures, who are not candidates for surgery. 

They say, "you learn something new every day," and that couldn't be more true. I am impressed with how much I have learnt in just three days of being here and will take complete advantage of this unique chance to be here by absorbing every bit of new information as it comes my way.