Enhancing Clinical Skills in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: Highlights from the Miami Neuroscience Symposium

Ronald Tolchin, DO

The Miami Neuroscience Symposium at Baptist Health returns for its 12th year, offering a comprehensive look at the cutting-edge of neuroscience care for clinicians and healthcare practitioners. With neuroscience advancing rapidly, this symposium, held from November 6-7th, is crafted to keep attendees informed on new technologies, treatment approaches, and collaborative care strategies. The distinguished faculty will lead sessions that focus on real-world, case-based learning and best practices to help improve patient outcomes across all stages of neuroscience care.

Attendees will gain insights into the latest evidence-based approaches to diagnosis and treatment, covering everything from neurocritical care interventions to advances in neuro-rehabilitation and the integration of AI in clinical settings. This event also emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration among neurologists, neurosurgeons, critical care providers, and more, fostering a holistic understanding of patient-centered neuroscience care.

Prior to the event, Ronald Tolchin, DO, shared his role as a coordinator and moderator for the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Pain Management sessions at the Miami Neuroscience Symposium. He highlighted the event's emphasis on cutting-edge research and its relevance for clinicians focused on neurological disorders, pain management, and rehabilitation. In addition, Tolchin discussed the event’s unique offerings, such as novel techniques in stroke rehabilitation, the application of neurotoxins for spasticity management, advancements in pain neuromodulation, and the multidisciplinary approaches to addressing complex neurological needs.

NeurologyLive: What is your involvement in the Miami Neuroscience Symposium? Why should the clinical community be excited about the event?

Ronald Tolchin, DO: My involvement is to coordinate speakers at the conference related to Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Pain Management and to moderate those sections related to these specialties. It is important to represent important topics related to this specialty as it applies to the neurosciences, particularly in neurological disorders of the central nervous system, pain management options, and rehabilitation outcomes. The clinical community should be excited because several important topics with cutting-edge research will be presented at this meeting. New research will be emphasized placing the neurosciences in a forward direction for the future.

Discuss the ways in which clinicians can enhance their clinical skills at this symposium. Point to a few specific examples.

Clinicians can enhance their skills by receiving concise and directed clinical pearls that can complement their practices and focusing on a few key points that they may not be familiar with. For example, it is important to understand the consequences of stroke and how individualized guided stroke rehabilitation will play an integral role in returning an individual to the highest functional level. We will present novel stroke rehab techniques.Participants will learn the role of neurotoxin agents for spasticity whether it is from stroke or other central nervous system disorders, such as traumatic brain injury.Motor neuron disease advancements will be reviewed as well. In addition, neuromodulation with newer closed-loop systems will be explored for pain management. Finally, Long Covid has affected many individuals. We will discuss the individual challenges of Long Covid and fully understand the unique aspects of this disease.

What multidisciplinary approaches to rehabilitation and sustained patient care have been shown to be effective? Any tips or suggestions for other institutions.

It is important to formulate an individualized approach to patients who need rehabilitation from upper or lower motor neuron disorders. This includes the involvement of PT, OT, Speech pathology, social services, etc. These patients have ongoing chronic rehab needs related to their neurological disorders. Having a team-based approach always offers patients the best chance of functional recovery. These neurological conditions are multifaceted and cannot be approached in a silo but must be handled with a team of highly educated and diverse rehabilitation skills that can help a patient return to the highest degree of functional ability. Like a symphony, this takes a coordinated complex approach to treating the whole patient. Other institutions can learn from the Miami Neuroscience Institute and the Marcus Neuroscience Institute, and their many professionals engaged in the functional improvement of patients suffering from neurological disorders.

How has our ability to treat pain expanded? What types of tactics can we implement and how effective are they?

Pain management is complex and has many layers. Newer advancements in pain management include closed-loop feedback systems for pain management neuromodulation. There are many interventional approaches to pain management.Although some of these will be discussed, it is important to understand which type of injections would be utilized for specific painful conditions. Nociceptive vs. neuropathic painful conditions will be discussed. Various pain management medications are used for either type of painful condition and it is important to understand the individual approaches to the use of these medication classes.