Global Neurology

The Mass General Brigham Neurology Residency Program has a sustained commitment to vulnerable populations in the global context. The wealth of elective time, particularly in the PGY3 and PGY4 years of training, allows interested residents to pursue experiences at sites far from Boston and attend conferences that share their study findings to a global audience.

Dr. Michael Stanley with the Guinea Epilepsy Project Site PI, Professor Abass Cisse Fode, Ignace Deen Hospital, Conakry.

Past clinical or research electives have taken our residents around the world to countries of all income levels where partnerships have been forged. The program is committed to co-creation of partnerships with clinicians and investigators outside of the USA, emphasizing capacity building and reciprocal benefits. Locations where MGB Neurology residents have studied include India, Bhutan, Nepal, Vietnam, and China in Asia; South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Guinea in Africa; and Haiti, Peru, and Ecuador in the Americas.

Residents have also spent time in high-income settings during electives, including Singapore, Australia, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.

Through these away electives, residents have been able to gain first-hand experience with neurologic diseases rarely seen in the U.S.A., learn the practice of neurology in more resource-limited regions, provide neurology education in settings without access to routine neurologic care, and collaborate on mentored research projects.

Dr. Jeffery Gluckstein, MGB Neurology Resident, giving morning report on stroke at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2019.

MGH has an active clinical and research program in Uganda, and BWH is closely linked with Partners in Health, an NGO that works in Haiti, Rwanda, Malawi, Peru, and Mexico. Residents have additionally participated in mentored research projects and clinical second opinions through supra-national non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies, and NIH-funded research studies. Several faculty at MGB collaborate internationally on projects that residents may partake in.

Our residents have been very successful obtaining global health travel scholarships available to residents through the MGB Centers of Expertise in Global Health and Humanitarian Medicine, the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health, and other sources. The MGB Neurology Residency also provides additional travel awards each year to residents involved in focused global neurology work in resource-limited settings and supports career-based trajectories through active mentorship and training.

Resources for residents who do not plan to travel abroad also exist, including lecture series, online library resources, an annual global neurology speaker series, the annual MGH Global Health symposium, and ad hoc opportunities through the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Global Health Institute, and visiting speakers to the many institutions, foundations, and programs in the greater Boston area.

For more information on global health and neurology opportunities in the training programs at MGB Neurology, please contact Farrah Mateen, MD, PhD at fmateen@mgh.harvard.edu

Examples of Published Projects with Harvard Neurology Residents as First Author:

Educational video on neurocysticercosis and epilepsy in the Kingdom of Bhutan, now watched >400, 000 times, funded through a grant from the World Federation of Neurology. Script written by neurology resident Dr. Sarah Wahlster. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWFE7-gkJqg

Vishnevetsky, A., Zapata del Mar, C., Luis Cam, J., Cornejo-Olivas, M., & Creutzfeldt, C. J. (2019). Palliative care: perceptions, experiences, and attitudes in a Peruvian neurologic hospital. Journal of palliative medicine, 22(3), 250-257.
Vishnevetsky, A., Cornejo‐Olivas, M., Sarapura‐Castro, E., Inca‐Martinez, M., Rabinowitz, D., Milla‐Neyra, K., ... & Bird, T. (2023). Juvenile‐Onset Huntington's Disease in Peru: A Case Series of 32 Patients. Movement Disorders Clinical Practice, 10(2), 238-247.
Media coverage on Dr. Anastasia Visnevetsky's work: https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international-news/ct-doctor-helps-connect-more-than-100-ukrainian-refugees-with-sponsors/2864065/
The global pediatric neurology workforce: Exposing a critical disparity in children’s health care. Wibecan L. Neurology Blog. 2023 September.
Neurologic Manifestations of the World Health Organization's List of Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases. Caleb R. S. McEntire, Kun-Wei Song, Robert P. McInnis, John Y. Rhee, Michael Young, Erika Williams, Leah L. Wibecan, Neal Nolan, Amanda M. Nagy, Jeffrey Gluckstein, Shibani S. Mukerji and Farrah J. Mateen. Front. Neurol., 22 February 2021
Neuromyelitis optica testing and treatment: Availability and affordability in 60 countries. Holroyd K, Vogel A, Lynch K, Gazdag B, Voghel M, Alakel N, Patenaude BN, Chiong-Rivero H, Mateen FJ. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2019 Aug;33:44-50.
Neurocysticercosis in Bhutan: a cross-sectional study in people with epilepsy. Brizzi K, Pelden S, Tshokey T, Nirola DK, Diamond MB, Klein JP, Tshering L, Deki S, Nidup D, Bruno V, Dorny P, Garcia HH, Mateen FJ; Bhutan Epilepsy Project. Trans R Soc Trop MedHyg. 2016 Sep;110(9):517-526. PMID: 27794094
Opportunities for intervention: stroke treatments, disability and mortality in urban Tanzania. Regenhardt RW, Biseko MR, Shayo AF, Mmbando TN, Grundy SJ, Xu A, Saadi A, Wibecan L, Kharal GA, Parker R, Klein JP, Mateen FJ, Okeng'o K. Int J Qual Health Care. 2019 Jun1;31(5):385-392.
Post-stroke social networks, depressive symptoms, and disability in Tanzania: A prospective study. Saadi A, Okeng'o K, Biseko MR, Shayo AF, Mmbando TN, Grundy SJ, Xu A, Parker RA, Wibecan L, Iyer G, Onesmo PM, Kapina BN, Regenhardt RW, MateenFJ. Int J Stroke. 2018 Oct;13(8):840-848.
Neurology Training Worldwide. Hillis JM, Berkowitz AL. Semin Neurol. 2018 Apr;38(2):135-144.
International Issues: Teleneurology in humanitarian crises: Lessons from the Médecins Sans Frontières experience. Saadi A, Mateen FJ. Neurology. 2017 Jul 18;89(3):e16-e19.
Worldwide reported use of IV tissue plasminogen activator for acute ischemic stroke. Berkowitz AL, Mittal MK, McLane HC, Shen GC, Muralidharan R, Lyons JL, Shinohara RT, Shuaib A, Mateen FJ. Int J Stroke. 2014 Apr;9(3):349-55.
Traumatic brain injury in Africa in 2050: a modeling study. Wong JC, Linn KA, Shinohara RT, Mateen FJ.Eur J Neurol. 2016 Feb;23(2):382-6.
Brain death declaration: Practices and perceptions worldwide. Wahlster S, Wijdicks E, Patel P, Greer D, Hemphill JC, Carone M, Mateen FJ.Neurology. 2015 May 5;84(18):1870-9.
International Issues: microfinance in neurologic disorders: a promising role. Wong JC, Mateen FJ. Neurology. 2014 Jul 22;83(4):377-9.