Neurologist-in-training Clinical Ethics Elective (NITCEE)
Sponsored by the Ethics, Law, and Humanities, a joint committee of the AAN, ANA, and CNS.
The application period for the next cycle will open in the Fall of 2024.
About
Neurologists are frequently confronted by decisions in clinical medicine that are confounded by ethical issues, such as the surrogate decision-making process for patients with aphasia or dementia, whether to participate in medical assistance in dying, the evaluation and counseling for genetic disorders, and end-of-life care for neurologically impaired patients. There is growing awareness of racial and socioeconomic health disparities as an ethical challenge facing neurologists and other physicians. A solid grounding in clinical bioethics can be invaluable to address these challenges.
This elective will provide opportunities to develop the skills necessary to approach ethical problems during your education, research activities, and clinical practice, and prepare you to share what you have learned with your peers and patients. You will have the opportunity to pursue a scholarly project in bioethics, and to meet with and receive feedback and career guidance from scholars and leaders in the field.
You are expected to devote at least three weeks during the May 2025–April 2026 academic year to working on your project. You will be expected to provide regular virtual updates on your project to the ELHC and present a summary of your project at the 2026 AAN Annual Meeting.
Benefits
AAN will pay for your travel to and from the 2026 AAN Annual Meeting along with lodging for one evening (the evening of or before your presentation).
A special feature of the NITCEE is the opportunity to attend the 2025 Yale Foundations of Bioethics Course, a four-day course held virtually in June 2025. NITCEE sponsors will cover the course fee, and NITCEE participants must attend the course.
Finally, one of the NITCEE participants will have the opportunity to become an ex officio member of the ELHC during the elective and participate in meetings that are focused on discussions relating to ethical issues in neurology.
Eligibility
You may apply to NITCEE if you will be in an adult or child neurology residency program or in an approved neurology subspecialty fellowship training program in the US or Canada during the 2025–2026 academic year. Applicants who are underrepresented in neurology are strongly encouraged to apply. The application period for this next cycle will open on November 1, 2024.
"Underrepresented in neurology" means those racial and ethnic populations who are underrepresented in the neurological professions relative to their numbers in the general population. You must have the approval of your residency or fellowship director.
Questions?
For more information, please contact Kay Fetters at kfetters@aan.com.