Educational & Clinical Objectives

At the end of the fellowship the Fellow will have the following competencies:

I.    Cognitive Knowledge

The Fellow will be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction his/her supervisor(s) a fundamental knowledge and understanding of the general areas and provide a detailed knowledge of the incidence, etiology, pathophysiology, natural history, clinical diagnosis, investigations, management, prognosis and complications of each of the specific disease processes listed below:

General Area of Knowledge:

•    Peripheral nerve (PN) anatomy and physiology
•    Clinical approach to patients with PN disorders 
•    Electrodiagnostic and imaging aspects of PN disorders
•    Differentiating PN from spinal disorders 

Specific Diseases:

•    Entrapment neuropathies
•    Peripheral nerve injury
•    Neoplasm of peripheral nerves
•    Degenerative spine disease
•    Medical neuropathies
•    CNS and PNS trauma
•    Paraspinal nerve sheath tumors

II.    Technical Skills

At the end of the clinical Fellowship, the Fellow will be able to demonstrate technical competence in the following procedures to the satisfaction of his/her supervisor(s):

•    Exposure and decompression of entrapment neuropathies
•    Resection of nerve tumors
•    Microsurgical nerve repair
•    Nerve transfers
•    Decompression of cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine
•    Craniotomy for trauma, tumors and stroke

 

Professional Qualities

At the end of the clinical Fellowship, the Fellow will have demonstrated to the satisfaction of his/her supervisor(s):

  • High level of commitment to patient care
  • Professionalism in all activities
  • Suitable communication skills in writing, maintaining medical records and dictated notes (clinic and OR)
  • Assessment and care of patients with PN and spinal disorders
  • Pre-operative and intra-operative management of PN surgery
  • Post-operative care of patients who they have managed 
  • Office management and outpatient care of patients
Peripheral Nerve Surgery Fellowship

Research Objectives

At the end of the clinical Fellowship, the Fellow will be working on or have completed:

  • At least one basic science paper or clinical paper for peer reviewed publication
  • Peer-review papers in the scientific literature and prepare for publication, as appropriate, editorials and letters
  • Prepare and submit at least one chapter assigned to them by their preceptor
  • The Fellow is expected to present research performed during his/her fellowship at an appropriate local forum (rounds, seminar or resident/fellowship conference)
  • The Fellow is strongly encouraged to submit and, if accepted, present an abstract at a national or international sub-specialty conference

Academic and Scholarly Aspects of the Program

Teaching:

Undergraduate hours/week:   1 hour/week
Graduate hours/week:            4 hours/week (informal and formal)
CME hours /week:                  0 hours/week

Research:                               18 hours/week