PhD in clinical neurosciences at NIMHANS

This post specifically deals with an ICMR funded PhD program in clinical neurosciences for medical graduates at NIMHANS. It includes the course profile, active areas of research at NIMHANS, skills you can acquire and the career prospects. It should not only help you in making a right research choice but help the science to have the right and passionate researchers.

This currently not so popular course was initially popularized as an MD-PhD that should be in par with western MD PhD which actually did not fit into the system and is been converted to plain PhD. As it was a popular notion that doctors are not engaged in medical research in Indian unlike western world, this course has been initiated by the ICMR (Indian council of medical research). Naturally the charisma is lost because it is neither in par with western MD-PhD nor with a clinical masters degree, yet I personally feel this is a wonderful route to embark upon a rewarding medical(neuro) research career by taking the road not taken.

So here comes the typical Indian dilemma of joining the course with unknown prospects and relatively very new in the market. Every other person asks me " Can we practice in clinics or will I get a research job in any organization". I would quote the lines of Professor Sponder which our ace scientist of the generation quoted in his book "Wings of fire".

"One should never worry about one's future prospects  instead it is more important to lay sound foundations, to have sufficient enthusiasm and an accompanying passion for one's chosen field of study"

Yes, I may not sound practical, but it is a fact that relying on certificates and credentials is the resultant of insecurity that we have nurtured in us because of strength less skills and concepts we have. If you believe in the above quoted lines, then things should fall in place when you do what you love for the sake of your passion and compassion of saving humanity with whatever you can contribute. As an example it worked for APJ Abdul Kalam!

Having said all these, I can say it was a very tough journey for the first few batches after its inception in 2007. The course did not have proper structure and established areas to start working up on. The faculty were new to this as well. I think this is what any field or any course should face in the beginning. The intake was 1 in 2007, 3 in 2008, and 5 from 2009. 

Active areas of research By this I mean , I primarily mean the areas that current PhD clinical neurosciences are involved (did not consider all the basic science/non medic people involved in the translational research).
1. The epilepsy group
2. The movement disorder group
3. Neuromuscular disorder group (DMD, ALS)
4. Degenerative disorders which includes peripheral, central, age related, infective etc... e.g. M.S, A.D, mitochondrial disorders (can also be considered developmental disorder),
Among the degeneration , Dementia is taken up as a special area with special dementia clinic on Saturday. Apart from AD, FTD and CBGD are also gaining importance.
5.Tumors like glioblastoma
6. TBI traumatic brain injury
7. Addiction medicine (epigenetic basis of alcohol addiction)
8. Developmental disorders (Autism ).  Hopefully this will grow in the coming days. Genetic diseases with complex phenotypes like Autism+refractory epilepsy+mental retardation should be taken up in future for active research.

Techniques actively taken up are imaging (fMRI, PET, MEG, DTI, SPECT etc), molecular genetics (polymporphisms, linkage studies etc),  electrophysiology (EEG, ENMG), histopathology like muscle/nerve biopsies, immunological (flowcytometry), retinal scans (eye as a window to neurological illnesses), autonomic function tests.

Course Profile : For the first one year, as a PhD CNS student you are expected to work in clinics and wards to get sensitized about the diseases. By the end of one year you have to chose a guide and a topic and draft a protocol within 6 months after that. So the thesis actually begins after one year of rotations in various neuropsychiatirc departments.

Rotation details:
1. 3 months of neurology
2. 3 months of neurosurgery
3. 3 months of psychiatry
4. 1 month of child psychiatry
5. 1 month of neuroradiology
6. 1 month of neuroanesthesia


Critical things :  According to ICMR guidelines your primary guide should be a clinician. So to get a guide and matching it with your basic interests is the real hurdle before you start thesis. Protocol acceptance is the next hurdle. ethical clearance etc should also be well taken care of.


Dual PhD!! Currently (as of today) NIMHANS holds collaboration for dual PhDs for clinical neurosciences fellows with 2 universities. One is the university of Liverpool and the Maastricht university. If you meet the criteria then you would be ending up with a dual PhD!
Currently one student is already in Liverpool and few are heading towards Maastricht.

Prospects : It really depends on what kind of work you do in these 5 years and what skills you acquire. With the usual habit of measuring the prospects with alumni placements does not hold good in our context as this is a budding course. Only 2 batches (3 students finished till now) and 3 more on the way to their defense. Measuring with the credential of publications may not be also accurate at this juvenile stage of the course. Many of the current students are hopeful about a post doctoral fellowship in Europe and USA in their respective fields. Again the decision of switching to lab sciences or practicing or balancing the both is your choice.

Can we practice? depends on your skills as mentioned above. I do not think anyone have to worry about legitimacy as you know the kind of practice happens in India. 50% of Indian practitioners are totally unqualified (because they are the only one who has access to rural India). There are many grand old MBBS graduates who actually got specialized with their experience and practicing successfully. There is no law as far as I know that can prevent a MBBS grad with a 5 year old experience in clinical neurosciences (work involving patient care) from practicing primary neurology atleast. Ideal kind of practice is in academic or university settings, simultaneously contributing to the research, generating hypothesis and solving problems.

Many people plan a neuro residency abroad too by clearing USMLE, PLAB or MRCP which is worthwhile if you are more into clinical practice.