Cerebrovascular/Cranial Base Surgery Fellowship

Overview
Cerebrovascular surgery is a discipline within the specialty of neurological surgery that is concerned with the evaluation, medical management, operative therapy, critical care, and ambulatory care of patients afflicted with conditions associated with the broad headings of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. 

Cranial base surgery is a discipline that explores new methods to surgically expose deep tissues such as the brainstem and creates safe surgical corridors to vascular and tumor pathologies previously deemed unreachable.  Cranial base exposures are an integral part of contemporary cerebrovascular surgery.

Details
The cerebrovascular/cranial base surgery training program at Northwestern University’s McGaw Medical Center is a one-year program based at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.  Fellows may also participate in surgical cases at Lurie Children’s Hospital.   

This fellowship program will provide a broad educational experience in cerebrovascular and cranial base surgery, as well as stereotactic radiosurgery for vascular disease.  This experience will prepare the fellow to function as an independent subspecialist capable of providing comprehensive patient care in these areas.  The objective of this training program is to provide fellows with an organized, comprehensive, supervised, full-time educational experience in the care of patients with cerebrovascular problems and complex cranial base tumors, fostering novel approaches to vascular pathology and the integration of surgical therapies in the clinical management of cerebrovascular patients.

Fellows will be exposed to a comprehensive program that will integrate with specialists in cerebrovascular neurology, endovascular neurosurgery, neuroradiology, radiosurgery, critical care medicine, and cranial base surgery.  Exposure to these various disciplines will interface with patients in the ambulatory care environment, the Emergency Room, the endovascular suites, the Gamma Knife unit, the Novalis unit, and the rehabilitation service.  Research exposure is required as delineated below.    

Each faculty member demonstrates a strong interest in the education of fellows, possesses sound clinical and teaching abilities, supports the goals and objectives of the program, and participates in scholarly activities.

Structure
The Northwestern cerebrovascular/cranial base surgical fellowship is designed as follows:

Six months clinical/Six months research
It is anticipated that some candidates will desire a cerebrovascular fellowship as a prelude to an ESN fellowship.  The Northwestern cerebrovascular fellowship could enable such a candidate to receive the prerequisites in training, including radiation physics, radiation safety, and diagnostic catheter angiography.  Access to this specialized training will be determined by the Program Director on a case by case basis.

Research
The fellowship program provides the opportunities for basic science, translational, and clinical research.   The Feinberg School of Medicine offer additional opportunities for specific projects.  In addition, close collaboration exists between the Department of Neurological Surgery and the Departments of Physiology, Biomedical Engineering, Neurology, and Radiology.

Weekly Conferences
In addition to daily rounds with the attending faculty, a detailed didactic program exists for the educational advantage of the cerebrovascular/cranial base surgical fellow.  Current didactic conferences relative to the fellowship include: 

Other required conferences include:  Neurosurgery Academic Day,  Neurosurgery Morbidity/Mortality and quarterly ESN Morbidity/Mortality.

Faculty
For a complete list of the faculty for the cerebrovascular/cranial base surgery fellowship and their specialties, click here.

Admission Prerequisites
Applicants for the cerebrovascular/cranial base surgery fellowship must have completed an ACGME-accredited residency in neurological surgery or equivalent training.  Under certain circumstances, a candidate for this fellowship might be at the PGY5 or PGY6 level.  These “internal fellows” will be utilizing elective or research rotations during their core residency to achieve subspecialty training in cerebrovascular disease.  The Director of the Fellowship is responsible for ascertaining that each applicant has completed the appropriate prerequisite training.

Application Requirements

If you are interested in applying for this fellowship program, please send a:

• Completed application,
• Curriculum vitae,
• Personal statement, and
• Three letters of recommendation addressed to:

Bernard R. Bendok, MD
Interim Director, Cerebrovascular Cranial Base Surgery Fellowship
Northwestern Department of Neurological Surgery
676 N St. Clair, Suite 2210
Chicago, IL 60611

For More Information

If you need further information or assistance, contact Lisa Glatz by phone: 312-695-6283, fax: 312-695-0225, or email: lglatz@nmff.org.

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