A new working group seeks to share learning with young neurologists

By Matà­as J. Alet, MD; Lisei Dario, MD; and Martin Bertuzzi Fiorella, MD

Matias J. Alet

The Group of Young Training Neurologists (GYTN) is a working group under the representation of the Neurological Society of Argentina (SNA). The group was funded in 2011 with the aim of creating a network of neurology residents and young neurologists around the country. The purpose of GYTN is to create a platform where people can share information and experiences during their education process.

The GYTN contemplates different activities. Conferences are conducted the last Friday of every month in the SNA auditorium. They are conducted on-site and online. Our meetings are divided into two parts. During the first part, we select a neurological case and discuss it, with special emphasis on syndromic diagnosis and differential diagnosis. Later, the case is uploaded to the SNA web page in the GYTN sector. The second part of the meeting is used for different purposes. Currently, we are focusing on the exposition to be presented at the annual SNA congress. The subject that has been chosen for this year is Neurological Manifestation of Infectious Diseases. Three cases will be presented for two experts in the topic and an interactive discuss with the public will be made.

Liseli Dario

The online forum is called FAREN, an acronym for “Foro Argentino de Residentes de Neurologà­a,” meaning, “Argentine Forum for Neurology Residents.” To keep it active, we publish clinical cases once a month. Those cases are based on neuro-imaging, which are discussed between neurologists and neurology residents from different parts of the country.

We also produce information for the management of neurological emergency situations. We seek to unify the work across different training residents and to update the way to proceed in an emergency based on the latest publications.

FAREN is a useful way to publish activities of scientific interest and job opportunities. We want neurolologists around the country to be aware of the latest academic and professional information, improving access to such opportunities.

Martin Bertuzzi Fiorella

We also are conducting a survey of the country’s residences of neurology. The purpose is to obtain up-to-date information from residents and neurologists working in our country, as well as the welfare and academic needs of each of the centers that are conducting training features.

Another initiative of the group is to strengthen the links between young neurologists. To do this, we have initiated contact with the International Working Group of Young Neurologists of the World Federation of Neurology (IWGYNT). The goal is to achieve the global inclusion of young neurologists from Argentina in the activities of the World Federation, and to provide the first Latin American representative to the organization, which currently has members in Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

The intention of this article is to inform all neurologists of the work of our group, and especially those who are in the training stage. We hope that other groups with similar ideals and proposals get to know us, and if they are interested they can contact us to share commentaries, experiences or any other types of information. As we find ourselves in the early years of our group, that linkage will be crucial for us, because we have much to learn from those more experienced teams.