Fellowship in Advanced Microsurgery (Sunnybrook Hospital)

Description

The Division of Neurosurgery at Sunnybrook Hospital offers a one-year funded fellowship in Advanced Microneurosurgery. The Division currently has six staff neurosurgeons with different subspecialty focus: trauma and critical care of traumatic brain injury, neuro-oncology, skull base surgery, degenerative spine surgery, image-guided functional surgery, peripheral nerve surgery and cerebrovascular/endovascular surgery. The successful candidate will be eligible for a clinical educational license in Ontario. Please refer to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for further information (www.cpso.on.ca).

Objectives

• By the end of the Fellowship, the Fellow will be able to perform safely and effectively the majority of procedures for cranial, degenerative spinal and traumatic conditions of the CNS and provide pre- and post-operative care for such patients.
• The fellowship will be divided into two parts. First 6 months, the fellow will be exposed to all the sub-specialities and during the second 6 months, “Advanced training” in 2 sub-specialties will be provided. The fellow has to choose (2 blocks of 3 months each) among the following subspecialties:
  
  1)cerebrovascular/endovascular,
  
  2) neuro-oncology/ cranial base 3) spine and 4) Functional /image-guided neurosurgery. It is important to note that the fellow will be given enhanced exposure in these sub-specialities in the 6 months. This advanced training may help them to choose their future areas of interest and they would still need a dedicated fellowship in that speciality.
  
  Depending on the fellow's interest and availability, comfort can be achieved by the end of the fellowship year in performing a variety of procedures, such as:  
  
  - Awake craniotomy
  
  - Image guided Neurosurgery (Cranial and Spinal)
  
  - Skull base tumours including Accoustic Neuromas/ Meningiomas
  
  - Endoscopic Skull base and Cranial procedures
  
  - Endovascular Neurosurgery (Initial exposure)
  
  - Open Cerebrovascular procedures including clipping of     aneurysms, AVM  excisions and Carotid Endarterectomy
  
  - Degenerative Spine surgeries with/without instrumentation
  
  - Peripheral nerve and brachial plexus surgery
  
  - Traumatic brain injury management
  
  - Functional Neurosurgery including Focused Ultrasound (FUS)-
  
  The Fellow is expected to have at least one (preferably two) manuscript submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals by the end of the academic year.
  
  Clinical responsibilities include in- and outpatient care, in-house first call coverage (up to 4 calls per month) and working with residents. The Fellow is expected to attend an independent fellow-run outpatient trauma clinic (1 per week) and to participate in Divisional teaching activities. Further exposure to specific areas will depend on the Fellow's interest and can be discussed. Research projects and publications are highly encouraged. The Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto has a major commitment to resident training. Senior and chief neurosurgical residents have the final decision in assigning house staff and Fellows to particular surgical cases.

Expectations from the Fellows:

This is a fellowship suited for neurosurgeons early in their careers ( within 5 years of completion of residency) . We expect them to have decent exposure in neurosurgical arena before they arrive here. The fellowship is planned to expose them to protocols in the North American training programs and further refine their training. They will be on call independently along with the staff (after initial few weeks) and are expected to make decisions on their own. They have to coordinate with the residents and mentor them as well. Their own growth will be monitored on regular basis and it will be made sure that they meet the set training objectives and assure to have adequate support during their experience as well. The learning objectives for the fellows will be discussed upfront with them and will be reviewed from time to time to make their learning experience better.

Terms

The Fellow will receive an annual stipend of CDN $72,000 (gross stipend) commensurate with prior experience and number of first calls per month  for the year commencing July 1st-June 30th of the following year. During this time you will be entitled to two weeks of paid holidays during  fellowship and one week of paid conference leave. If attending a conference during the fellowship year to present results of work done during the fellowship, limited financial support is offered to offset the costs of registration, travel and lodging. Any planned holiday/conference time must be communicated to your supervisor well in advance of the date. The fellowship stipend includes your malpractice insurance, but you will be responsible for your university registration and own health coverage.

Ontario requires the payment of the three initial months of health coverage before subjects become eligible for OHIP (provincially funded health care).

About Sunnybrook

Sunnybrook Hospital is a fully affiliated teaching hospital of the University of Toronto. The Division of Neurosurgery at Sunnybrook performs an average of 1,600 procedures in cerebrovascular, neuro-oncology, skull base, pituitary, spinal, peripheral nerve, microvascular, trauma and cranial nerves. Sunnybrook is the largest teaching hospital in Canada with 10,000 staff, physicians and volunteers that look after 1 million patients per year.

Sunnybrook is also a research-intensive hospital, with more than 600 scientists. Undergraduate and postgraduate students of the University rotate through the service.

Contact Information

Ashish Kumar, MB, MS, MCh
Sunnybrook Hospital Division of Neurosurgery
2075 Bayview Avenue, Room A1-37
Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5
Tel: (416) 480-5645
Fax: (416) 480-6085
Email: ashish.kumar@sunnybrook.ca