Goals and Objectives

Goals and Objectives

The goal of the fellowship is to provide a graduate level training experience for the neurosurgeon seeking a career in academic spinal neurosurgery.

The program has three important aims:

1. Provide clinical experience in all aspects of spinal surgery, with a particular emphasis on minimally invasive techniques and complex spinal instrumentation/reconstruction.
2. Provide ample teaching opportunities with medical students, residents, and ancillary staff.
3. Provide opportunities to participate in clinical and/or basic science research.

One of the major objectives of the program is for the fellow to understand how to perform a surgical evaluation and preoperative work-up. The fellow will learn about the various non-operative treatment strategies for patients with spinal disorders, as well as the selection of surgical candidates and operative procedures.

Another objective of the program is for the fellow to develop technical competence in a variety of complex spinal procedures. The fellow will be exposed to a large number of challenging surgical pathologies that require anterior-posterior reconstruction such as infectious, neoplastic, degenerative, and traumatic disorders. The fellow will also become facile with various minimally invasive surgical techniques involving the entire spine including discectomy, laminectomy, fusion, arthroplasty, and pedicle screw placement.

We will encourage the fellow to be involved in research and creative scholarly activities. It will be expected for the fellow to submit at least two manuscripts to peer reviewed journals during the year. The fellow should also give at least one presentation at a national or international spine meeting.