History

The Department of Neurology is one of the three oldest in the country and its residency program one of the first to be accredited in the 1920s. It was established in 1919 and was the first academic Department of Neurology west of the Mississippi River. The department has been fortunate to be led by renowned neurologists in each era of its existence including such luminaries as Adolph Sahs, Maurice Van Allen, and Antonio Damasio. 

Thirteen former faculty and/or trainees of the department have gone on to become chairpersons of an academic neurology department and an additional eight have become neurology residency directors.

The Department Today

The Department of Neurology of the University of Iowa offers opportunities for training in neurology and the neurosciences. The department consists of a full-time faculty of 31 individuals, plus additional 10 faculty with joint appointment from departments such as Pediatrics, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology and Psychiatry to name just a few. This cohort of clinicians/scholars/educators is fully committed to providing superb, unrivaled clinical training in an atmosphere where fostering advances in neuroscience is highly valued as well

For the past decade, the department has been flourishing on all fronts. We are recognized nationally for both our clinical excellence and our research accomplishments. Fourteen faculty members have been honored by their peers at the national level by being named to the prestigious Best Doctors in America list. On the research front, Department of Neurology faculty serve as the principal investigator of 13 federal research grants.

The department operates five inpatient services, each staffed by a separate team of faculty and residents.  State-of-the-art inpatient monitoring units for stroke, epilepsy and sleep disorders have been developed in the department. The Neurology Outpatient Clinic operates daily and is in close proximity to the inpatient units. Approximately 14,000 outpatients are seen each year. Additional outpatient clinics are held at the Veterans Administration Hospital, located across the street from UI Hospitals and Clinics. All faculty serving at the Veteran’s Hospital have responsibilities at UI Hospitals and Clinics as well, assuring consistency in approach and quality of neurologic services at the two institutions.

Iowa Neurology has a proud tradition and its trainees are coveted both as skilled academic leaders and as impeccably trained clinical practitioners.  It is a tradition that we invite you to become part of.