View University of Maryland Neurosurgery
Category:Program Directory
Website: http://neurosurgery.umaryland.edu/overview.asp
INTRODUCTION
The University of Maryland Neurosurgery department is a 7 year program, filling 2 residents per year.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
NS-0: The Internship year, consists of 6 months of general surgery, 3 months of neurology, and 3 months of neurosurgery. You will be proficient in placing ventriculostomies, placing Licox/Caminos, central lines, tapping the dreaded VP shunt, lumbar punctures by the end of your three months.
NS-1: This is a twelve month experience at the University Hospital. The service is divided into two teams covering separately assigned patients, with the NS-1 residents alternating between the two teams. This is where the bulk of your neurosurgical critical care skills are learned, as you cover the Neurosurgical ICU (12 beds) and the other ICUs where are patients are “boarded” (Surgical / Medical ICU census is 15-20. There are separately covered Neurotrauma ICUs by the PGY3). Junior residents have the opportunity to double scrub with the chief on nearly every case (if desired) and as first assist on many of the simpler cases (VP shunts, lumbar lami/discectomies, ACDFs, cranis for trauma).
NS-2: Both residents have six months at the Shock Trauma Center, 4.5 months as night float with 1.5 months of elective. The first three months of this year are spent with alternating elective / night float duties as a resident from Walter Reed rotates at Shock Trauma. The next nine months are spent alternating between night float and daytime trauma. The neurosurgery service acts as a consultation service at the separate, but adjoining, Shock Trauma center, with 36 ICU beds filled with closed head injuries, cervical spine trauma, GSWs, and other wierd cases.
NS-3: Both residents do three months of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Six months will be done at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, where there are 5 private practice neurosurgeons doing a variety of cases (mostly lumbar fusions, ACDFs, with artificial discs, tumor cranis mixed in). The other three months are elective time (neuroradiology, neuropathology, Gamma Knife).
NS-4: Both residents do twelve months of elective. Residents have continued on with their research activities, decided to have extra clinical experience with spinal surgery, spent months away at other institutions doing a clinical elective.
NS-5: Both residents the split coverage between the Veterans Affairs Medical Center as chief of the service, and finishing off research projects or elective time.
NS-6: Both resident chiefs at the University Hospital alternate between the two teams, which cover separately assigned patients.
CALL
There is a night float system in place, a PGY-3 that takes call from 5:30pm to 6am Sunday-Thursday nights. This means that there is only 24 hour call on Friday and Saturday nights. These are split between the residents, with the PGY1 and 2 splitting the University call, with the PGY3/4/5 splitting Shock Trauma call. One resident (a PGY2-4) is placed on “back-up” call, but only gets called in if there is a emergent OR case in the middle of the night.
Call is bottom heavy, with 2 1/2 weekends on as a PGY-2, 3 weekends every two months as a PGY-3 (you don’t take weekends on night float), 2 weekends a month as a PGY-4, 1 weekend a month as a PGY-5, and vacation coverage only as a PGY-6. ("Weekends" = 24 hour call, e.g. Friday night and Sunday day, or Saturday day+night)
BENEFITS
Interns receive an assortment of books, including the Youman’s set, Osborne’s Neuroradiology, Spine Surgery text, Neuropath, and of course Greenberg. The department will also buy requested books individually.
MEETINGS & COURSES
The department will financially support any resident who presents a poster or paper at one of the annual meetings.
The PGY3 year residents attend the Woods Hole Course in October.
The PGY5 year residents attend the AFIP course in February.
Chief residents are sent to AANS or CNS.
There are a number of other courses that residents have the opportunity to attend; spine, trauma, skullbase, etc.