Spine Neurological Surgery

Duration: One Year

Prerequisite: Eligible candidates must have successfully completed an ACGME-accredited neurological surgery residency

Program Faculty

Mazin Al Tamimi, M.D.

Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery, Spine

Salah Aoun, M.D.

Assistant Professor, Neurological Surgery

Douglas Dickson, M.D.

Assistant Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery

Michael Van Hal, M.D.

Assistant Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery

Description

The Spine Neurological Surgery Fellowship Program provides broad educational experience in neurological surgery of the spine, complementing and enhancing the training in the Neurological Surgery Residency. One fellowship position will be available per academic year, offering a broad exposure to clinical evaluation and appropriate patient selection for operative and non-operative management in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. Learn more about the Spine Fellowship Training Program. 

A minimum of 12 months of fellowship training will be spent in a clinical spinal neurosurgery experience under the direction of the clinical faculty. This period of time will provide the trainee with an organized, comprehensive, supervised, full-time educational experience in the field of spinal neurosurgery. This will include research, comprehensive patient care, diagnostic modalities, the performance of surgical procedures, and the integration of non-operative and surgical therapies into clinical patient management.

Each fellow will actively participate in the operative management of a wide range of spinal disorders including traumatic, deformity, degenerative, neoplastic, and congenital conditions. Progressive responsibility in patient management will be provided. A broad exposure to modern minimally invasive and reconstructive spinal instrumentation techniques will be provided.

The fellow will spend 2 days per week in the operating room at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center with the clinical faculty. A third day will be spent in the operating room at Parkland Hospital. One day per week will be spent in the outpatient clinic setting with the teaching faculty. One day per week will be protected research time to allow for scholarly activities and research pursuits.

Recognizing the interdisciplinary nature of comprehensive care for patients with complex spinal disease, the fellow will work closely with the faculty in Neurointensive Care, Neuroradiology, Anesthesiology, Neurology and Neurotherapeutics, Orthopedic Surgery, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Clinical, anatomic, biomechanical, and neuroscience research constitutes an integral component of the educational experience and provision will be made for the successful completion of research projects. An optional second year will be available for fellows interested in perusing additional research and educational opportunities available at UT Southwestern. The goal of this additional time is to provide the knowledge base and skill set necessary to design large multi-institutional clinical trials or cutting-edge bench research.

Selection of candidates for the fellowship position will be based on merit and consistent with the criteria established by the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The criteria include the academic performance of the applicant at his/her residency training program, performance on the primary written examination of the ABNS, scholarly work, letters of recommendation, and successful interviews with the training faculty at the Department of Neurological Surgery and Spine Center at UT Southwestern.

Contact

Kevin Morrill, M.D.
Professor of Neurological Surgery
Kevin.Morrill@UTSouthwestern.edu
(214) 648-8791