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The UAB Department of Neurosurgery offers the following fellowships for advanced neurosurgical training. All fellowships are carefully coordinated with the residency training program, in order to ensure a mutually beneficial learning experience.

Fellowship Training

  • Endovascular Neurosurgery Fellowship

    A one-year, Society of Neurological Surgeons Committee on Accreditation of Subspecialty Training (CAST) accredited Endoscopic Endovascular Fellowship is offered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It closely adheres to the Society of Neurological Surgeons Curriculum for Subspecialty/Fellowship Training in Endovascular Neurosurgery.

    Fellowship activities are located at UAB, under the direction of Mark R. Harrigan, M.D. The UAB Neuroendovascular Group consists of two neurointerventional neurosurgeons and a neuroradiologist.

    Fellows are involved in all aspects of endovascular neurosurgery, including diagnostic angiograms, coiling/embolization procedures, stenting procedures, research projects, emergency call and seeing patients in a clinical setting. Previous fellows have transitioned their endovascular training into residency.  Our clinical service is extremely busy, with over 1,000 cases per year, including pediatric neurointerventional procedures.

    At the end of the fellowship, a certificate will be issued by the UAB Department of Neurosurgery.

    Please email Dr. Mark Harrigan your CV if interested in joining our team as an Endovascular Fellow Instructor.

  • Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowship

    The one-year fellowship program offered at UAB/Children’s of Alabama is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowships. As such, graduating fellows are fully qualified to sit for the American Board of Pediatric Neurosurgery Exam that enables them to attain ABPNS Board Certification in Pediatric Neurosurgery.

    Our fellows are well-trained under the direction of Jeffrey Blount, M.D., and perform among the top trained and most distinguished graduating residents in Neurosurgery training programs in North America. We are proud that all our fellows have successfully completed ABPNS certification, and the vast majority has continued to pursue pediatric neurosurgery. Many have gone on to leadership positions in pediatric neurosurgery at distinguished Pediatric medical centers around North America.

    During the course of training, the pediatric neurosurgery fellow is fundamentally involved in the day-to-day operations of the busy clinical service. Extensive clinical exposure is attained in the operating room, clinics, inpatient wards and conferences. Each fellow has an extensive operative experience in the full range of pediatric neurosurgery cases, and in the important perioperative decision making process. The fellow characteristically presents several talks at the Pediatric Section of the AANS/CNS meeting in December and produces at least six to eight manuscripts (range four to 24 papers) for the peer reviewed literature in pediatric neurosurgery.

    For eligibility requirements and application information please contact James Johnston, MD.

  • Radiosurgery Fellowship

    The one-year fellowship program offered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham provides experience in stereotactic radiosurgery for all neurosurgical indications; participation in radiosurgery and clinics in both radiation oncology and neurosurgery; clinical, translational and/or basic science research in radiosurgery-related areas; and resident education in radiosurgery.

    During the course of the fellowship, the fellow will assume a Faculty Instructor position within the Department of Neurosurgery. In addition to focusing on radiosurgical training, the fellow, if qualified, will provide general neurosurgical care through clinics and general neurosurgical call and will supervise the clinical and surgical activities of the core residents and participate in their didactic education.

    At UAB, the fellow's responsibilities will include:

    • Comprehensive management of radiosurgical patients in the clinics and ORs, including pre-radiosurgical decision-making, operative planning, and post-radiosurgical care.
    • Familiarity with potential indications for radiosurgical intervention for tumor, vascular, spinal, pediatric and functional disorders, as well as a familiarity with treatment options outside of radiosurgery.
    • The fellow will collaborate with Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology faculty to conduct and publish research relevant to his or her particular interests within the program.
    • The fellow will participate in the planning, administration and research of stereotactic radiosurgical procedures for pain, tumor, vascular, functional and pediatric lesions.
    • The fellow will attend and participate in all didactic general and subspecialty conferences, including the regular conferences listed above as well as attending and participating in one of the Department of Radiation Oncology’s training sessions in SRS and SBRT.
    • The fellow will complete the equivalent of dedicated research time, either concurrent with clinical duties or separately, in the above areas and is expected to submit at least two manuscripts for publication.

    For eligibility requirements and application information please contact Nicole Bentley, M.D.

  • Stereotactic and Functional Fellowship

    A one-year, Society of Neurological Surgeons' Committee on Accreditation of Subspecialty Training (CAST) accredited Stereotactic and Functional Fellowship is offered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It closely adheres to the Society of Neurological Surgeons' Curriculum for Subspecialty/Fellowship Training in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. The University of Alabama at Birmingham hosts a renowned multidisciplinary Center for Movement Disorders, which is one of nine nationally designated advanced research centers, according to the American Parkinson's Disease Association. The group consists of both neurosurgeons and neurologists whose senior faculty members have more than 150 publications in the area of movement disorders.

    Fellowship activities are primarily located at UAB, under the direction of Nicole Bentley, M.D. Clinical components include: comprehensive participation in the adult deep brain stimulation (DBS) service; participation in the development of the pediatric DBS program at Children's of Alabama and the Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center; comprehensive participation on the radiosurgery service; and a neurosurgery instructorship, with staff privileges to take emergency call, maintain a clinical service and run a weekly general neurosurgery clinic.