The Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies (TIRN) at UTHealth Houston offers educational programs in neurotechnologies. These include training in EEG analysis, epilepsy management, and related fields, with opportunities for hands-on experience and continuing education credits. TIRN also provides advanced fellowship programs for specialized clinical training.
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EEG and Epilepsy Course
Course Overview: The UTHealth Houston EEG course is an intensive 8-week didactic, as well as hands-on, teaching and training program that is held twice a year at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston in the Texas Medical Center. Course instructors, both faculty and guest faculty, are nationally and internationally recognized practitioners in the field. Course participants will achieve competency in the analysis and interpretation of human EEG and will also be introduced to the discipline of stereotactic EEG and intracranial studies of the epileptic brain. Didactic topics will include the fundamentals of adult and pediatric epilepsy, and the medical and surgical treatments of intractable epilepsy. A diverse array of topics, including epilepsy aspects of neuropathology, neuropsychology, and neuroradiology will be covered, as well as prognosis, mortality, women with epilepsy and driving. Sleep and surgical (intra-operative) monitoring topics pertaining to epilepsy will also be discussed. Participants will attend our weekly epilepsy patient management conferences and are encouraged to attend our epilepsy fellowship program’s weekly didactics.
Our EEG Course has returned to required in-person attendance as of July 2023.
For EEG Technicians, 63 ASET- CEUs will be awarded after the first 4 weeks. (This is not an EEG tech certification course)
Registration Information: Registration is based on a first-come, first-served basis and early application is encouraged. There is a course fee schedule based on training level. Please inquire regarding the fee schedule using the contact information below. The course fee is waived for UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann Hospital employees (residents, fellows, faculty, staff) and for residents and fellows in ACGME or AOA accredited training programs within the United States.
A certificate will be awarded upon successful completion. International applicants are welcome to enroll, and exemplary course graduates may be considered for subsequent, longer-term research/post-doctoral fellowships (note: such positions are not always available). Please note visa processes may take time.
Attendees from outside institutions may have the opportunity to stay as a volunteer Professional Trainee for an additional 2 months after the course concludes depending on project and space availability.
Those who are undergraduate students, medical students, or graduate students may stay up to an additional 10 months as volunteer Visiting Students, with official documentation from your home institution confirming that your educational/training experience at UTHealth Houston is related to your current degree program and/or fulfills an educational requirement of your institution.
Upcoming course dates:
- Feb 2 - Mar 27, 2026
- July 6 - Aug 28, 2026
Applications are now open for the February-March 2026 course. Application initiation deadline for the February-March 2026 course for those outside of the Texas Medical Center: Sunday, November 2, 2025
How to Apply:
Application track #1: For residents and fellows in ACGME or AOA accredited training programs within the United States
Please follow the visiting rotation instructions provided here by the UTHealth Houston Graduate Medical Education Office: https://med.uth.edu/gme/trainee-resources/visiting-trainees/ Complete the Elective Pre-Registration Form found on that page and send via email to [email protected]
Application track #2: All others
You will need to complete a UTHealth Houston Visiting Scholars Program application under the "Professional Trainee" category. Email [email protected] to initiate this application process. Please note that the Visiting Scholars Program requires 8 full weeks to process completed applications. More information about the Visiting Scholars Program application process can be found here: https://www.uth.edu/evpara/otvs/ For more information on either track or more information about the course please contact the Course Coordinator, Andrew Coulter at [email protected] UTHealth Houston EEG course director Jay Gavvala, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology; [email protected]
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Residency & Fellowships
Epilepsy Fellowship Program
Course Overview: UTHealth McGovern Medical School in Houston has six ACGME Epilepsy Fellowship positions available beginning July 1st, annually, and two non-ACGME positions in invasive EEG. The epilepsy fellowship position is for one year with an opportunity to extend it to a second year. ACGME fellowship applicants must have a completed residency program in neurology, child neurology or general psychiatry accredited in the United States or Canada. Non-ACHME fellowship applicants must have completed neurology residency programs equivalent to a standard US neurology residency program, and possess ECFMG certification that allows clinical training in the US.
The fellowship program is designed to maximize learning and clinical experience, suitable for those planning careers in academic hospital medicine as well as those headed for private practice.
Fellowship Activities:
- Mandatory 8-week epilepsy neurophysiology course
- Weekly surgical patient management conferences
- Monthly surgical neuropathology conference
- Participation in national and international epilepsy meetings
- Clinical rotations in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, Continuing EEG, MEG, epilepsy clinic (First Seizure Clinic), and electives in intra-operative Monitoring and Sleep
Application for Fellowship Program
Summer Research Program
Course Overview: The Summer Research Program provides U.S. undergraduate and McGovern Medical School first-year medical school students with hands-on laboratory research experience supervised by McGovern Medical School and faculty members throughout the medical and dental schools of UTHealth. The internships are ten weeks in duration. Each student is required to write an abstract of research performed during the summer. Scheduled events that supplement the research experience include weekly seminars, certification courses in animal science: laboratory safety and radiation, an enrichment series, and tours of selected facilities and labs.
Registration: The application period is December 1 – February 1 (11:59 pm CST) each year. Candidates must be available to begin on the first day of the program in May 2021.
For more details, visit: https://med.uth.edu/oep/medical-education/student-programs/summer-research-program/