Neurosurgery Residency Program

Research Director: Dr. Garnette Sutherland

Program Administrator: Noma Sibanda

Phone: 403-944-125 Email: Nomathemba.Sibanda@ahs.ca

Number of PGY-1 CaRMS positions per year: 3
Accreditation: Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Length of Training: 6 years
Mandatory Research: 1 year

Education of our postgraduate and undergraduate students remains one of the highest priorities of Department of Clinical Neuroscience and the Section of Neurosurgery. The eighteen teaching faculty consists of a large complement of dynamic key opinion leaders representing all subspecialties of neurosurgery, including pediatric, open vascular, endovascular neurosurgery, neuro-oncology, skull base and pituitary surgery, adult/pediatric epilepsy, functional, adult hydrocephalus, pain surgery, and peripheral nerve. In addition, the University of Calgary boasts the largest comprehensive spinal surgery program in Canada with a total of 15 full-time spine surgeons coming from both neurosurgical (5) and orthopedic backgrounds (10). 

From the moment residents enter the program, they are continuously involved in research and education initiatives. Considerable resources are dedicated each year to facilitating academic activities through faculty participation, existing peer-reviewed grants, project funding from sectional and department sources, and a minimum of 12 months of clinical or basic science research. The vast majority of residents within the Neurosurgery residency training program at the University of Calgary complete an advanced degree (Masters or PhD) in basic science, clinical epidemiology, medical education, business administration, engineering, or innovation science. 

A significant number of our residents garner national awards and scholarships for their outstanding clinical and academic endeavors in addition to celebrating engagements, marriages, and births. 

Some of these include: 

• Dr. Catherine Veilleux has secured two prestigious fellowships in vascular and endovascular neurosurgery at Harborview in Seattle and the second in Paris, France.
• Dr. Branavan Manoranjan was awarded the prestigious Banting Post-Doctoral fellowship award for his work on cerebral metastases.
• Dr. Brij Karmur was awarded the CIHR Canada Scholarship- Graduate Masters Program awards for his work in using AI to examine whether radiomics can predict genetic alterations in meningiomas.
• Dr. Runze Yang is pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Michael Taylor at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor in examining medulloblastoma sub-type outcomes.
• Dr. Rena Far is pursuing a PhD with Dr. Taufik Valiente at the University of Toronto examining the origins of seizure disorders at the cellular level.
• We welcome our four new incoming PGY-1s: Dr. Kramay Patel (University of Toronto), Dr. Arani Kulamurugan (McMaster University), Dr. Sara Bandah (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), and Dr. Daffer Ghanim (University of Colorado). 

The program offers a well-rounded exposure to all aspects of neurosurgery within a close and collegial environment. Non work-related, team-building events held throughout the year provide a healthy balance against a busy lifestyle choice. Wellness is a major priority within the University of Calgary Neurosurgery Residency Program and we are pleased to update our three newest major endeavors. 

1. This last June we completed our second year along with the University of Toronto as the only two Canadian programs invited to play in the prestigious Annual NeuroCharity Softball tournament in Central Park, Manhattan. Our Resident Retreat in NYC following the softball was the icing on the cake and was used to guide the rapid growth of our program.
2. The Hone Athletic app for wellbeing continues to be used weekly by our residents. This app has led to increased use of mental and wellness health seeking behaviors and has an overall positive affect on our residents. We are also about to analyze the study we are conducting to measure these effects quantitatively. This exciting partnership is the first of its kind in the neurosurgery landscape of Canada as well as for any discipline at the University of Calgary.
3. We have revamped our Academic Half Day in response to residents concerns about its previous effectiveness. The half day now included personal but directed dedicated study times This is followed one week later by a faculty lecture and review of pertinent case studies to drive learning in three domains. Thus far, it has been highly popular.