COVID-19 ALERT FOR APPLICANTS

Dear Resident Applicant,

We understand the challenging times that you are facing in your application process for finding a neurosurgery training program. For the 2021-2022 academic year, we are committed to following the guidelines outlined by the Society for Neurological Surgery (SNS) for the transition to residency of medical students. These guidelines prioritize patient care as well as the safety of the community, patients, and learners during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These recommendations are made to assist in maintaining an equitable residency selection process for applicants. This will include:

1. Each neurosurgery applicant will be limited to one (1) external neurosurgery rotation, which must start on or after August 1, 2021.

2. Given the importance of the applicant experience in neurological surgery prior to committing to a career path, each student should do 1-2 rotations of neurological surgery at their home institution (minimum of 4 weeks).

1. Students without a home program should perform 2 rotations of neurological surgery at the closest ACGME accredited program (adopted home program), or 1 rotation at the “adopted home program” and 1 external rotation.
2. Virtual rotations are not a substitution for in-person neurosurgical rotations.
3. The SNS encourages students to gain a diversity of experience and education through a broad spectrum of subspecialty medical and surgical rotations in preparation for residency.

3. Direction regarding interviews and letters of recommendation will be forthcoming.

We invite you to look over our website to view videos and information about our program. We will be scheduling several “virtual externship” sessions in which you can meet our faculty and residents in live video chat sessions. Please look for more information to follow about these events. We look forward to reviewing your application and “meeting” you in virtual interview sessions.