On April 28, 2025, Jasmine Thum, M.D., M.S. assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery and Department of Biomedical Engineering, hosted a peripheral nerve education course for trainees at UAB. The event offered residents in-depth lectures and anatomic demonstrations of peripheral nerve anatomy, pathology, diagnostic techniques and surgical approaches.
The morning session began at the Wallace Tumor Institute, featuring a series of presentations led by experts across UAB. Department of Neurology Associate Professor Roci Vazquez do Campo, M.D., began with an overview of electromyography and nerve conduction studies (EMG/NCS) diagnostic techniques, followed by Thum’s lecture on peripheral nerve anatomy and entrapments. Department of Neurology Associate Professor Rebecca Brown, M.D., continued the lecture with a presentation on peripheral nerve tumors and their genetic associations. Thum returned to present on brachial plexus anatomy, and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Assistant Professor Mohamed Morsy, M.D., concluded the session with a presentation on complex cases and surgical management of brachial plexus injuries.
After a break for lunch the residents reconvened in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine anatomy lab to review complex anatomic prosections and practice their own dissection skills. Microsurgical skills stations were also available for residents to practice fine-suture techniques for repairing nerves only a couple millimeters in diameter. The day ended with a journal club, with papers presented by residents to highlight major research contributions to the field of peripheral nerve repair.
“Having a day to focus on peripheral nerves and being able to do so in an interactive environment with my coresidents was a great experience,” said Alina Mohanty, M.D., PGY-3. “The hands-on lab in the afternoon with guidance from both attendings and senior residents helped cement the concepts we learned earlier in the day. It’s a rare occasion that we get to spend so much time together as a large group, so I look forward to peripheral nerve days and other focused didactic days in the future.”
The course offered residents critical skills and perspectives they will carry forward into their neurosurgical training and careers.