MDS Aspen Course 2023: A Comprehensive Review of Movement Disorders for the Clinical Practitioner – a GP2 Trainee’s Perspective

Like most neurologists from underrepresented parts of the world, I also dreamed about receiving high-level training from a Western part of the world like Europe or North America. However, due to limited resources and financial constraints, fulfilling that dream can become challenging in most cases. One fine morning, I received an email from the GP2 Training & Networking working group announcing the opportunity to apply for funding to attend the MDS Aspen Course in 2023. On May 9th, 2023, I received an email informing me that I had been selected to attend such a prestigious course. It was one of the great, enjoyable moments of my life that I will never forget.

The Aspen Course was started by Joseph Jankovic, Stanley Fahn, and David Marsden in 1991. The tradition of the Aspen course is that of a “rite of passage,” that every fellow must pass through the Aspen course. Indeed, it is rare to meet a practicing or retired movement disorders neurologist who has not completed the course at least once.

The course began on July 29th, 2023 with the course directors – Dr Michael Okun and Prof Cynthia Comella – starting the welcome session. Afterward, Dr. Alberto Espay spoke about the phenomenology of movement disorders, movement disorders’ emergencies, and functional movement disorders. Prof Mark Hallett presented the anatomy of basal ganglia, ataxia gait disorders and myoclonus. Dr Susan Fox outlined the etiopathogenesis and clinical features of Parkinson’s disease. Prof Cynthia Comella discussed the management of dystonia and the medical management of Parkinson’s disease. Dr Michel Okun described the deep brain stimulation surgery, followed by Dr Jennifer Goldman who talked about atypical parkinsonism, Huntington’s disease & paroxysmal movement disorders. Finally, Dr Joseph Jankovic discussed hyperkinetic and autoimmune movement disorders. Every session was followed by a lively and interactive Q&A session. I met many movement disorder fellows and residents and had the chance to network with them. Every faculty member was helpful and cordial and the participants were very friendly and cooperative.

There was an interesting video round on August 2nd, 2023. A total of 11 participants were selected to present an interesting case of academic interest. I was one of the fortunate attendees who had the opportunity to present a case, titled “A young girl with unilateral disabling tremor.”

I thank GP2 and MDS for giving me the chance to attend this highly advanced, prestigious, and interactive MDS Aspen course which helped me to enrich my existing knowledge and opened new windows of learning by conducting further research.