Neurologist-in-training Clinical Ethics Elective (NITCEE)
Sponsored by the Ethics, Law, and Humanities Committee (ELHC), a joint committee of the AAN, ANA, and CNS.
The application period is closed.
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 in addressing 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 as a poster abstract at the 2026 AAN Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 18–22, 2026.
Timeline
- Applications open: November 1, 2024
- Applications close: February 1, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. CT
Benefits
NITCEE fellows will be able to attend the 2026 AAN Annual Meeting. The AAN will cover the cost of travel to and from the meeting, including lodging for one evening (the evening of or before the poster session) and registration.
A special feature of the NITCEE program 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 NITCEE participant will be selected to become an ex officio member of the Ethics, Law, and Humanities Committee during the elective (a one-year term) and participate in meetings that are focused on discussions relating to ethical issues in neurology. The Ethics, Law, and Humanities Committee (ELHC) is a joint committee of the 好色先生 (AAN), the American Neurological Association (ANA), and the Child Neurology Society (CNS).
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.
*Note: You must have the approval of your residency or fellowship director.
Questions?
For more information, please contact Kay Fetters at kfetters@aan.com.