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Medical specialties

Neurology Diploma

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A decision-focused diploma in adult neurology: how to localise the problem, which tests help, and how to manage the conditions that fill neurology clinics and acute wards, from stroke, seizures and headache to multiple sclerosis, nerve and muscle disease, Parkinson's disease and dementia.

Twenty-five weekly sessions across five modules take you from the neurological assessment and acute neurology, through stroke, epilepsy and headache, and inflammatory, nerve and muscle disease, to movement disorders, cognition and running a service, taught live by practising specialists you can question. Teaching is anchored on current guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the European stroke, neurology and epilepsy societies, with US differences flagged where they change practice; electroencephalography (EEG), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are covered as decision tools, not technical skills.

Course director
To be announced
Format
25 live weekly sessions on Zoom, in 5 modules
Dates
Confirmed when enrolment opens

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Image: reflex hammer by Sven Volkens via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Who it is for

Senior trainees, fellows and early-career consultants in neurology, and physicians, stroke and acute medicine doctors and GPs who manage neurological conditions, worldwide.

The programme

25 one-hour sessions in 5 modules, each with its learning objectives. This is the draft programme: the course director reviews and refines it before enrolment opens, so session titles may change.

Module 1 · Sessions 1 to 5Assessment and acute neurology

  1. 1. The neurological assessment and localisation

    • Localise a lesion to brain, spinal cord, root, nerve, neuromuscular junction or muscle from the history and examination
    • Identify red flags that need same-day neurological assessment
    • Recognise positive clinical signs of functional neurological disorder
    • Write a referral that lets a neurology service triage safely

  2. 2. Neuroimaging, electroencephalography and nerve studies

    • Select the imaging test and urgency that answer the clinical question
    • Interpret common CT and MRI report findings in clinical context
    • Explain what electroencephalography can and cannot show, and avoid requesting it after simple syncope
    • Decide when nerve conduction studies and electromyography will change management

  3. 3. Acute headache and raised intracranial pressure

    • Assess thunderclap headache and exclude subarachnoid haemorrhage with the right imaging and timing
    • Recognise cerebral venous thrombosis and start anticoagulation
    • Diagnose idiopathic intracranial hypertension and act to protect vision
    • Apply headache red flags to decide who needs urgent imaging

  4. 4. First seizure and status epilepticus

    • Distinguish epileptic seizures from syncope and functional seizures using the history and a witness account
    • Plan investigation after a first seizure, including who needs EEG and MRI
    • Manage convulsive status epilepticus through first, second and third-line treatment
    • Advise on driving, safety and whether to start treatment after a first seizure

  5. 5. Meningitis, encephalitis and acute confusion

    • Recognise bacterial meningitis and start empirical treatment without delay, following NICE NG240
    • Identify suspected encephalitis and start aciclovir while investigating
    • Recognise features that suggest autoimmune encephalitis and request the right antibody tests
    • Differentiate delirium from primary neurological causes of acute confusion
Module 2 · Sessions 6 to 10Stroke and cerebrovascular disease

  1. 6. Hyperacute ischaemic stroke: thrombolysis and thrombectomy

    • Select patients for intravenous thrombolysis, including tenecteplase, using time, imaging and contraindications
    • Identify patients who need referral for mechanical thrombectomy, including those with a large ischaemic core
    • Manage blood pressure and glucose around reperfusion treatment
    • Explain where US recommendations differ from UK and European guidance

  2. 7. Transient ischaemic attack and secondary prevention

    • Assess a suspected transient ischaemic attack and arrange specialist review within the right time frame
    • Prescribe short-term dual antiplatelet therapy after minor stroke or high-risk transient ischaemic attack
    • Decide when to start anticoagulation after stroke with atrial fibrillation, using trial evidence
    • Select patients for carotid intervention or patent foramen ovale closure

  3. 8. Intracerebral haemorrhage

    • Lower blood pressure safely in acute intracerebral haemorrhage
    • Reverse anticoagulation urgently according to the drug taken
    • Apply a care bundle that covers glucose, temperature and blood pressure
    • Identify patients who need neurosurgical referral and plan when to restart antithrombotic drugs

  4. 9. Stroke in young adults and stroke mimics

    • Investigate ischaemic stroke in a young adult in a targeted way
    • Recognise and manage cervical artery dissection
    • Distinguish stroke from common mimics, including migraine aura, seizure and functional weakness
    • Identify posterior circulation stroke in a patient presenting with acute dizziness

  5. 10. Rehabilitation and life after stroke

    • Plan multidisciplinary rehabilitation goals with the patient after stroke
    • Manage post-stroke spasticity, including when to use botulinum toxin
    • Screen for depression, anxiety and cognitive impairment after stroke
    • Review return to work, driving and secondary prevention at follow-up
Module 3 · Sessions 11 to 15Epilepsy and headache

  1. 11. Diagnosing and classifying epilepsy

    • Classify seizures and epilepsies using the 2025 International League Against Epilepsy framework
    • Interpret EEG and MRI results in light of the clinical picture
    • Recognise when a diagnosis of epilepsy may be wrong and needs review
    • Explain the diagnosis and its practical consequences to a person with epilepsy

  2. 12. Antiseizure medicines and drug-resistant epilepsy

    • Choose an antiseizure medicine by seizure type, comorbidity and reproductive plans
    • Apply current regulatory rules on valproate and topiramate, including for men
    • Recognise drug-resistant epilepsy and refer for specialist assessment, including surgery
    • Manage common interactions and adverse effects of antiseizure medicines

  3. 13. Epilepsy across the lifespan

    • Counsel women with epilepsy about contraception, pregnancy and breastfeeding
    • Adjust antiseizure treatment for older adults with new-onset seizures
    • Adapt epilepsy care for people with a learning disability
    • Discuss sudden unexpected death in epilepsy and practical ways to reduce the risk

  4. 14. Migraine: acute and preventive treatment

    • Diagnose migraine and medication overuse headache using international criteria
    • Build an acute treatment plan that limits medication overuse
    • Choose an oral preventive treatment and judge whether it has had an adequate trial
    • Identify patients who meet criteria for treatments targeting the calcitonin gene-related peptide pathway

  5. 15. Cluster headache, trigeminal neuralgia and facial pain

    • Diagnose cluster headache and the other trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias
    • Treat cluster attacks acutely and start preventive treatment
    • Manage trigeminal neuralgia with first-line drugs and know when to refer for surgery
    • Recognise secondary causes of facial pain that need imaging
Module 4 · Sessions 16 to 20Neuroinflammation, nerve and muscle

  1. 16. Diagnosing multiple sclerosis and its mimics

    • Apply the 2024 McDonald criteria to a suspected first demyelinating event
    • Distinguish multiple sclerosis from neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody disease
    • Assess and treat acute optic neuritis
    • Explain the diagnosis and next steps to a newly diagnosed patient

  2. 17. Treating multiple sclerosis

    • Choose a disease-modifying therapy using disease activity, safety and patient preference
    • Manage an acute relapse, including when to give steroids
    • Monitor for treatment risks, including progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and infection
    • Manage spasticity, bladder symptoms and fatigue in established multiple sclerosis

  3. 18. Acute and chronic inflammatory neuropathies

    • Recognise Guillain-Barre syndrome and its variants at presentation
    • Monitor respiratory and autonomic function and escalate care in time
    • Treat Guillain-Barre syndrome with immunoglobulin or plasma exchange
    • Diagnose chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy and plan its treatment

  4. 19. Myasthenia gravis and muscle disease

    • Diagnose myasthenia gravis using clinical features, antibodies and neurophysiology
    • Manage myasthenic crisis and avoid drugs that worsen myasthenia
    • Plan long-term immunotherapy, including newer biological treatments, in line with current UK guidance
    • Recognise patterns of weakness that suggest a myopathy

  5. 20. Peripheral neuropathy and motor neurone disease

    • Investigate peripheral neuropathy with a targeted set of tests
    • Recognise neuropathies that need urgent treatment, such as vasculitic neuropathy
    • Diagnose motor neurone disease and share the diagnosis with care
    • Coordinate multidisciplinary care, including nutrition and non-invasive ventilation, following NICE NG42
Module 5 · Sessions 21 to 25Movement, cognition and neurology practice

  1. 21. Parkinson's disease

    • Diagnose Parkinson's disease clinically and recognise features of atypical parkinsonism
    • Start and adjust dopaminergic treatment, monitoring for impulse control disorders
    • Manage non-motor symptoms, including hallucinations, orthostatic hypotension and sleep problems
    • Select patients who may benefit from device-aided therapies

  2. 22. Tremor, dystonia and other movement disorders

    • Distinguish essential tremor from parkinsonian and functional tremor
    • Recognise dystonia and identify when botulinum toxin helps
    • Identify and manage drug-induced movement disorders
    • Investigate new-onset chorea in an adult

  3. 23. Dementia and cognitive impairment

    • Assess a patient with memory complaints and distinguish mild cognitive impairment from dementia
    • Identify the clinical features of the main dementia subtypes
    • Explain the evidence, eligibility and risks of anti-amyloid antibody treatments
    • Recognise rapidly progressive dementia that needs urgent investigation

  4. 24. Functional neurological disorder

    • Make a positive diagnosis of functional neurological disorder using clinical signs
    • Explain the diagnosis in a way the patient can understand and accept
    • Refer for specialist physiotherapy and psychological treatment
    • Avoid repeated tests and treatments that cause harm

  5. 25. Complex case decisions and running a neurology service

    • Apply the course to complex cases in a panel discussion
    • Design an acute neurology referral pathway for a general hospital
    • Use advice and guidance and virtual clinics safely
    • Build a personal plan for continuing development in neurology

What the diploma includes

  • 25 live sessions on Zoom, one evening a week, with recordings for the weeks you miss.
  • Practising specialists teaching live, so you can put your questions to them.
  • Weekly MCQs and a final written assessment.
  • A digital certificate carrying your final classification.

Lead or teach the Neurology Diploma

We are looking for a course director and faculty from the specialty. Sessions are one hour in the UK evening, live on Zoom, and paid.

Apply to teach