Iraqi Board Neurology study guide
Iraqi Board Neurology · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Iraqi Board in Neurology is the national specialty certification awarded through the Iraqi Board of Medical Specialties (IBMS) to physicians who have completed neurology training and passed its examinations. Candidates are typically residents finishing an Iraqi neurology training programme or specialists seeking formal recognition of their competence. The Iraqi Board Neurology study guide has 14 sections and about 4,613 words.
01Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology
Domain 1 rewards pure localisation: the examiner supplies a sign and expects a level, a side and a tract. Most marks come from knowing where each pathway crosses and which brainstem structure sits where.
376 words, about 2 min02Neuropathology and Basic Neuroscience
This domain tests mechanism: what the tissue does after injury and what each inclusion body or tumour marker means. Questions are usually pattern-recognition with a clinical vignette attached.
334 words, about 2 min03Clinical Neuroimaging and Electrodiagnostics (EEG, EMG/NCS)
This domain tests whether you can read a study rather than order it. Expect a description of a scan or a nerve conduction table and a request for the underlying process.
392 words, about 2 min04Cerebrovascular Disease and Stroke
Stroke is the highest-yield domain in most neurology papers: time windows, vascular localisation, aetiological classification and secondary prevention all appear reliably. Intravenous alteplase is licensed within 4.5 hours of last known well.
326 words, about 2 min05Epilepsy and Seizure Disorders
This domain tests classification, semiology and drug choice. Vignettes usually describe the seizure rather than giving the diagnosis, so learn the patterns.
313 words, about 2 min06Headache and Facial Pain
Headache diagnosis is clinical. The exam tests the ICHD-3 criteria, the red flags that mandate imaging, and the fact that treatment choice follows the syndrome rather than the pain severity.
362 words, about 2 min07Movement Disorders and Neurodegenerative Disease
Questions here separate idiopathic Parkinson disease from its mimics and test drug choices in tremor, dystonia and chorea. Diagnosis requires bradykinesia plus rest tremor or rigidity, with asymmetric onset and a good levodopa response.
325 words, about 2 min08Neuromuscular Disorders and Peripheral Neuropathy
This domain tests pattern recognition across nerve, neuromuscular junction and muscle, plus the emergencies that kill patients. Length-dependent axonal: diabetes, vitamin B12 deficiency, alcohol, uraemia.
328 words, about 2 min09Demyelinating and Neuroimmunological Disorders
The central skill here is separating multiple sclerosis from the antibody-mediated disorders, because treatment errors in neuromyelitis optica are dangerous. Dissemination in space needs T2 lesions in at least two of four regions: periventricular, cortical or juxtacortical, infratentorial, and spinal cord.
319 words, about 2 min10Neuroinfectious and Tropical Neurology
This domain mixes universal emergencies with infections common in Iraq and neighbouring regions, so learn both the CSF patterns and the geography. CSF shows neutrophil predominance, glucose ratio below 0.4 and high protein.
318 words, about 2 min11Neuro-oncology and Neurosurgical Neurology
Expect a ring-enhancing lesion with a question about the differential and the next step, plus tumour markers that predict treatment response. Glioblastoma, IDH-wildtype, grade 4: adults, necrotic ring-enhancing mass, treated with maximal safe resection then radiotherapy with temozolomide.
286 words, about 1 min12Pediatric Neurology
Paediatric questions hinge on age-specific syndromes, developmental milestones, and knowing when investigation is unnecessary. Febrile seizures occur between 6 months and 5 years.
333 words, about 2 min13Neurogenetics
This domain tests inheritance pattern recognition, repeat expansion disorders, and a rational testing strategy rather than gene-list memorisation. Autosomal dominant: Huntington disease, neurofibromatosis type 1, Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1, spinocerebellar ataxias.
298 words, about 1 min14Behavioral Neurology
This domain asks you to name a cognitive syndrome from a described behaviour and to distinguish neurodegenerative decline from delirium and depression. Broca aphasia is non-fluent with impaired repetition and preserved comprehension, from posterior inferior frontal injury.
303 words, about 2 min