Program Overview

The USF Health/TGH Division of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery is dedicated to the treatment of central and peripheral nervous system disorders by restoring function and improving quality of life. Using a patient-centered, multidisciplinary team-based approach, we focus on helping patients suffering from many disabling neurological conditions, including movement disorders, epilepsy, chronic pain, spasticity, and peripheral nerve injuries. This necessarily involves training the next generation of neurosurgeons in the principles and techniques of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery by specialty-trained, board-certified faculty members, and providing them with research opportunities to innovate in this field. As such, the Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Fellowship at the University of South Florida is structured as an immersive, 12-month program which has been accredited by the Committee for Advanced Subspecialty Training (CAST) under the guidance of the Society for Neurological Surgeons.

Mission

The mission of the Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Fellowship at USF Health is “to train academic neurosurgeons to be leaders of a functional neurosurgery and epilepsy surgery program”. To this end, the overarching goal of this fellowship is to provide the trainee with comprehensive, organized, immersive, and well-supervised training in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery and epilepsy surgery in an environment that encourages and supports research and innovation such that he or she might confidently and competently practice independently as an academic neurosurgeon providing specialized treatment and patient care.

Aims

This advanced clinical training and research fellowship aim to achieve the following for its trainees:

• To provide sufficient clinical experience in all 6 core competencies in each of the neurosurgical subspecialties of
  1. Movement disorders
  2. Epilepsy
  3. Pain
  4. Spasticity
  5. Peripheral nerve
• To support the clinical experience with applied research suitable for promoting an academic career. 
• To provide an opportunity to publish and establish expertise in a sub-specialty area. 
• To gain experience in teaching students and residents in diagnostic and operative techniques. 
• To gain experience as a member of an integrated clinical team. 

Training Sites

The Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Fellowship at USF Health is conducted under the auspices of an approved neurosurgery residency training program within an accredited medical school, and an affiliated hospital.  

The primary training site for this fellowship is Tampa General Hospital, a Level 1 trauma center serving a metropolitan statistical area of some 3 million people. This venue has inpatient services, outpatient services, dedicated neurosciences and trauma critical care units, an epilepsy monitoring unit, operating rooms including an intraoperative MRI, neuroimaging facilities, a neurorehabilitation unit, and clinical and basic research laboratories applicable to neuromodulation. This venue constitutes the sole site for surgical procedures and educational rounds, and most outpatient clinics and case conferences are conducted on-site as well.    

USF Health’s Neuroscience Institute is a secondary site for fellowship training. It has active outpatient care, educational activities, and multi-disciplinary clinics including a multidisciplinary Movement Disorders Neuromodulation Clinic with integrated case-conferences. The neuromodulation clinic includes initial and follow-up neurostimulator programing, and fellow attendance is expected for one afternoon each week (Thursday). In addition, the University of South Florida is home to the Center for Aging and Brain Repair (CABR), a research institute focused on basic and transitional research addressing degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, ALS, and Parkinson’s Disease and more acute conditions including spinal cord injury and stroke. This facility is available for fellows’ seeking exposure to basic science research.