SHDM16005U Clinical Course at a Specialized Headache Center

Volume 2026/2027
Education

Master of Headache Disorders

 

**This course will be offered next in Autumn 2027.

Content

The course covers the following topics:


• Participation in patient interviews,
• Examinations,
• Follow up-visits,
• Prevention strategies
• Interdisciplinary treatments as well as
• Patient communication
• Instructions and strategic discussions with patients and relatives
• Case demonstrations
• Lectures and clinical training in a pediatric headache center
• Hands-on demonstration and practise of injections of botulinum toxin
• Hands-on demonstration and practise of greater occipital nerve blockades

The course will present you for real life patients and teach you how to obtain the correct diagnosis, how to interview and inform patients, how to make an optimal management plan and how to follow up on these patients. All aspects including the role of physiotherapists, nurses, secretaries and psychologists will be covered and you will get hands on experience with injections of botolinum toxin and greater occipital nerve blockades.

Teachers will be international leading headache experts.

The course is organized as a combination of hands on management of patients and lectures, which will be mainly cased based. The course will include homework, where you will have to prepare clinically oriented presentations. At the end you will have learned how a multidisciplinary tertiary headache centre managing complex headache patients is organized and how to put previously acquired theory into practice.

Learning Outcome

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to:


Knowledge:
• Have insight into work at an internationally recognised headache centre
• Strengthen their knowledge about rare types of headache and patients with severe symptoms accompanied by marked comorbidity or treatment resistance
• Acquire knowledge about invasive treatment strategies
• Acquire knowledge about communicating and teaching about headache disorders
• Acquire data
• Evaluate treatment  strategies

Skills:
• Make the optimal diagnoses of patients with rare and difficult to treat headache disorders
• Take responsibility for their own development and learning
• Initiate relevant interdisciplinary treatment of patients
• Initiate follow up programs and suggest treatment adjustment over time
• Initiate GON-blocks and treatment with Botulinum toxin in relevant patients
• Assess and critically present cases and scientific articles about treatment and multidisciplinary intervention

Competencies:
• Optimise the diagnostic and therapeutic process of rare headache disorders and patients with severe symptoms
• Contribute to future teaching, communication and research in interdisciplinary treatment
• Administer injections of botulinum toxin
• Administer GON-blocks
• Initiate new organisational measures and to develop national and international treatment guidelines on a scientific basis

See Literature List in Absalon/Canvass

Applicants must have master’s or bachelor’s degree within Pharmacy, Medicine, Psychology, Public Health, Nursing, Physical Therapy or the equivalent from a university in or outside of Denmark.
The teaching methods will include a combination of interactive lectures, patient interviews and presentations, hands-on-classes, group exercises, case studies, journal clubs, essay and computer-based (electronic) learning exercises (WIKIs). Using the Absalon platform or similar for upload of learning materials will allow team work for reading, interpreting and discussing selected scientific articles and cases.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 60
  • Preparation
  • 60
  • Exercises
  • 40
  • Practical Training
  • 60
  • Study Groups
  • 35
  • Guidance
  • 5
  • Exam Preparation
  • 10
  • Exam
  • 1
  • Total
  • 271
Oral
Individual
Credit
10 ECTS
Type of assessment
Practical exam, 1 hour
Type of assessment details
Practical oral examination, 60 minutes, with 60 minutes patient interview or a given case and preparation.
The examination task is a practical oral examination that includes a patient interview or based on a given case and examination and should illustrate a broad knowledge and insight into the relevant the clinical presentation, the diagnostic strategies and the treatment plan.
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
One internal examiner
Exam period

See exam schedule.

Re-exam

Same as ordinary

Criteria for exam assesment

To achieve a grade of 12, the student must be able to:

Knowledge
• Demonstrate a detailed insight into work at an internationally recognised headache centre
• Demonstrate a thorough ability to diagnose common as well as rare headache disorders
• Have an extensive knowledge on management of migraine, tension-type headache, cluster headache, medication-overuse headache and trigeminal neuralgia
• Have a comprehensive knowledge on management of other primary and secondary headache disorders and other types of facial pain
• Have a detailed insight into how to perform clinically based research


Skills
• Communicate and teach about headache disorders
• Make the optimal diagnoses of patients with rare and difficult to treat headache disorders
• Initiate relevant interdisciplinary treatment of patients
• Initiate follow up programs and suggest treatment adjustment over time
• Administer and correctly initiate GON-blocks and treatment with Botulinum toxin
• Assess and critically present cases and scientific articles about treatment and multidisciplinary intervention


Competencies
• Optimise the diagnostic and therapeutic process of rare headache disorders and patients with severe symptoms
• Contribute to future teaching, communication and research in interdisciplinary management
• Initiate new organisational measures and to develop national and international treatment guidelines on a scientific basis