Curriculum
Postgraduate
Year One (PGY-1, NS-0)
The design of
the program in this year is the responsibility of both the
chairman of the department of surgery and the head of the
department of neurosurgery. The resident will spend at least six
months in general surgery with a portion of this time assigned
to the trauma/critical care service. The trainee will be
assigned as an assistant resident in general surgery and will
have the responsibility for admitting and evaluating new
patients to the service, assisting on major cases on the service
and managing the postoperative care of those patients. The
trainee will spend the remainder of that year in vascular,
pediatric, or cardiothoracic surgery, plastic and reconstructive
surgery. The final three months of the year will be in
neurology which will be done in conjunction with Dr. Jorge
Kattah, chairman of the department of neurology and the
neurology residency. Visit the Department of Neurology at
www.uicomp.uic.edu/NeuroRes
Postgraduate
Year Two (PGY-2. NS-1)
This year will be spent as a junior resident, assisting the
chief resident, on the clinical neurosurgical service of the
Saint Francis Medical Center division of the Illinois
Neurological Institute. The resident's primary responsibility
during this year will be the initial evaluation and daily care
of patients admitted to the service, under the supervision of
the chief resident and faculty. During this year the resident
will also obtain competence in opening and closing of various
craniotomies, in lumbar disc surgery, head trauma and peripheral
nerve. The second half of the year will expand the duties of
the junior resident, with inclusion of patients on the pediatric
service at OSF. The resident will participate in the ongoing
basic science seminars in neuroanatomy, neurophysiology,
neurochemistry and neuroimmunology which will continue
throughout the residency. The resident will be given an oral
examination twice during the first year to assess his/her
competence. This oral examination will continue twice a year
throughout the residency.
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Dr. Dzung Dinh, Chief of Spine Section, performing
lumbar artificial disc surgery with the resident,
Andrew Tsung |
Postgraduate
Year Three (PGY-3, NS-2)
The first six months of the third year will be spent on the
pediatric neurosurgery service, with an emphasis on the workup
and surgical treatment of pediatric neurosurgery. The resident
will be under the primary direction of the chief of the
pediatric neurosurgery section, Dr. Julian Lin, and he/she will
be the primary resident responsible for all pediatric patients
admitted to the neurosurgical service. During this year the
resident will also participate in the myelomeningocele clinic.
The final six months of the third year will be divided between
three months of neuropathology and a three-month rotation on
neuroradiology. During this six month period, one to two days
each week will be spent in the gamma knife clinic and treatment
facility, where approximately 200 cases are performed each
year. Responsibilities include treatment planning, frame
placement and actual treatment of the patient. The resident
will also present new cases weekly during the gamma knife
clinic. During the three months spent in neuropathology, the
resident will become familiar with the gross and microscopic
aspects of neuropathology, with particular emphasis on those
problems with surgical implications. The resident will become
familiar with the workings of the electron microscopy, how it
can aid in the diagnosis of various tumors, he/she will also
become familiar with the various staining methods used to
differentiate different tumor types. The resident will be
responsible for brain cutting sessions during this three-month
period and he/she will also be responsible for showing
the weekly neuropathology slides to the rest of the group of
neurosurgeons and residents. This part of the program is under
the direction of Dr. Meena Gujrati, associate professor of
pathology (neuropathology). The other three months will be spent
in neuroradiology. During this time the resident will enhance
his/her proficiency in the interpretation of plain films,
myelography, computerized tomography, magnetic resonance
imaging, and angiography. The resident is expected to become
accomplished in the interpretation of CT/CTA and MRI. Catheter
angiography will be done under the direction of one of the staff
neuroradiologists; the emphasis, however, will be on
interpretation of films rather than technical competence in
angiography. The resident throughout the entire three months
will be responsible for the neuroradiology weekly grand rounds.
Toward the end of postgraduate year three, he/she will be
responsible for developing a proposal and plan for the research
year.
Postgraduate
Year Four (PGY-4, NS-3)
The fourth postgraduate year is an elective year which is
typically spent in laboratory or in clinical research, along
with one of the basic scientists or under the direction of one
of the staff neurosurgeons. The resident will be expected to
have at least one publication in the basic science realm and one
in the clinical science realm to be submitted to a peer reviewed
journal. Some have traveled abroad for in-depth training in
endovascular neurosurgery, while some have completed an enfolded
spine fellowship. This year remains quite flexible and promotes
the individual interests of the resident. Please see the
subheading research under program description for further
information.
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Dr. Dan Spomar performing kyphoplasty with bi-planar
fluoroscopy |
Postgraduate
Year Five (PGY-5, NS-4)
This year will be spent as the senior resident on the clinical
service at the Methodist Medical Center division of the Illinois
Neurological Institute. During this time the resident will be
responsible for the management of the neurosurgical service and
will perform a large number of surgical procedures with
intraoperative supervision by the faculty. In this year the
resident will gain competence in performing complex spine, both
anterior and posterior, craniotomy for resection of
interparenchymal tumors, carotid endarterectomy, and convexity
meninglomas. Further skills will be developed in advanced
peripheral nerve surgery. During this year the resident will
attend the outpatient clinic and will be intimately involved in
the pre and postoperative follow-up and care of patients. The
resident is expected to take for credit and pass the
neurosurgery written examination of the American Board of
Neurological Surgery during this year. This examination will be
given as an in-service examination yearly throughout the
residency, but must be passed by the end of the fifth year.
Postgraduate
Year Six (PGY-6, NS-5)
This year will be spent at the chief resident, responsible for
the management of the service at the Saint Francis division of
the Illinois Neurological Institute. The resident will be
responsible for all intraoperative, pre and postoperative
management of patients admitted to the service. The resident
will conduct the more readily accomplished procedures, as well
as the more complex procedures with faculty as first assistant.
The resident will have additional administrative
responsibilities, as he/she will be responsible for the overall
management of the house staff on the services and the
conferences.
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