Residency Program
UW Hospital – Fundamental Clinic Skills – 12 months
Each first year resident is matched with a neurosurgical faculty mentor and spends 3 months on clinical neurosurgery, 3 months on neurology, 5 months on ICU/Emergency care and 1 month on Plastic surgery. During this year the resident obtains fundamental medical knowledge that will serve as the foundation for neurosurgical training. In July, the resident attends a 2 day Chicago-based regional bootcamp sponsored by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. Throughout the year, particular emphasis is placed on obtaining critical care skills. For that reason our first year residents are assigned early-on to one month of general surgery night emergency and one month in the Neurosurgery ICU (see Table 1). These rotations provide them a rapid introduction to UW Hospital emergency services (ER, OR, laboratory and radiology. Our first year curriculum also includes 1 month spent in neuroanesthesia. In subsequent training years our residents are expected to enhance these critical care skills by providing primary critical care management for neurosurgical patients in our hospital’s ICUs. Neurology training lasts three months. A special neurology curriculum has been designed for neurosurgery residents which centers on issues most valuable for the neurosurgery trainee: stroke, movement disorders, epilepsy, and electrodiagnostic testing. Finally, the 1 month rotation on Plastic surgery provides an introduction to vascularized skin/muscle flaps and establishes good habits in learning to close tissues.
