Fellowship Program in General Neurosurgery

The fellow will participate in the weekly educational conferences at Lakeland Regional Health and at the University of South Florida such as: Grand Rounds, cerebrovascular conference, spine conference, neurooncological tumor board, Journal Club, Mortality and Morbidity conference.
The General Neurosurgery Fellowship is designed to prepare the fellow for an academic career. The fellow will develop and deliver presentations on Skull base or spine-related topics for local, national, and international neurosurgical audiences. The fellow will demonstrate skull base surgical techniques to neurosurgeons at all levels of training using the University of South Florida Microsurgery Laboratory in Tampa. They will also serve as a faculty member for the annual Masters’ Course in Skull Base Surgery and will be expected to participate.

The research component of the General Neurosurgery fellowship year is both clinical and basic. Basic research focuses on development of innovative surgical approaches or refinement of existing approaches supported by cadaveric dissection in the University of South Florida Microsurgery Laboratory in Tampa. Analysis and publications of clinical cases and series are also a mandatory component of the research program, which runs concurrently with the clinical program. In preparation for an academic career, preparation, and publication of peer-reviewed and solicited writings are mandatory. Grant submission is encouraged but optional.

1. At the completion of the fellowship, trainees will be able to provide advanced clinical and surgical care (when appropriate) in a multitude of neurosurgical disorders, such as in skull base surgery, cerebrovascular disease, and spinal pathologies.
2. The fellowship will provide trainees with organized, comprehensive, supervised, full-time educational experience in the field of general neurosurgery. This should include comprehensive patient care, diagnostic modalities, the performance of surgical procedures, post-operative care and the integration of non-operative and surgical therapies into clinical patient management.
3. Fellows will receive broad exposure to skull base, cerebrovascular diseases and spinal disorders, which will include training in clinical evaluation and selection for both operative and non-operative management.
4. At the completion of the fellowship, trainees will be able to participate in and lead clinical research, suitable for promoting an academic career in neurosurgery. Fellows will be evaluated on their scholarly output including publications and presentations on local, regional, and national levels.
5. At the completion of the fellowship, trainees will be prepared to pursue post- fellowship employment at an academic institution or tertiary-specialty institutions. Fellows will be competitive applicants for positions and will be able to secure employment with an institution of preference.
   • Program faculty will provide mentorship and guidance throughout the application process. The Program will track fellows’ job placement following residency to assess overall efficacy of this goal.

The General neurosurgery fellow will be evaluated bi-annually by the Fellowship Director with input from the faculty members of all specialty departments. The fellow will evaluate the fellowship director and the overall program at the completion of the fellowship year.

The fellow will spend 3 days a week in the operating room learning surgical techniques, this will guarantee an exposure of >250 cases in a year.
One day will be spent in the outpatient clinic focusing on the pre and postoperative management of patients.
The fellow will dedicate one day a week for academic/research activities.