Neurosurgery Training

About Our Neurosurgical Residency Program and Sub-Internship

Ronnie L. Alterman, MD of BIDMC reviewing a brain scan Following the approval by the Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in April 2016, the BIDMC Department of Surgery now offers a general Neurosurgical Residency Program. The seven-year residency is a combined program with Boston Medical Center (BMC).

The combined BIDMC/BMC Neurosurgical Residency Program will provide residents with a unique opportunity to train at three of the busiest medical centers in New England, all of which treat patients with some of the most complex neurologic conditions.

During their seven years of training, residents will spend equal amounts of time at BIDMC and BMC, six months at Boston Children’s Hospital, and one year conducting research.

Ultimately, the program will have a total of seven residents, but will begin with one resident each year, starting in July 2016.

More About Our Residency and Sub-Internship

Program Leadership

Residency Application Information

House Officer Salary and Benefits

Resident salaries are similar for all members of the Council of Boston Teaching Hospitals; rates are adjusted annually to account for cost of living. Training conditions and work schedules follow the guidelines of the Residency Review Committee for Neurological Surgery of the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education.

The program provides a wide range of benefits, including malpractice insurance coverage, on-call meals, and short- and long-term disability insurance. The program also makes available the opportunity to purchase several types of health, dental and life insurance. Each intern is allotted three weeks’ vacation; all higher level residents are allotted four vacation weeks per year. In addition, the program has a liberal leave of absence policy for residents who are new parents, require medical leave, or need to care for a seriously ill family member.

Licensure

All residents and clinical fellows appointed to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Neurological Surgery Residency Program must hold a current limited license or a current full license to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Applications for the limited license are obtained from the Surgical Education Office. Limited licenses must be renewed every year, up to a maximum of five years. The cost of a limited license is $100 annually.

Applications for full licensure should be sent directly to the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, 200 Harvard Mill Square, Suite 330, Wakefield, MA 01880. For more information, visit the Board of Registration in Medicine's website. Please contact the Board by email with questions.

Application Process and Deadline

The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Neurological Surgery Residency Program participates in ERAS, the Electronic Residency Application Service. The program selects interns through the National Resident Matching Program in accordance with the policies established by the NRMP.

Deadline for receipt of all application documents is November 1. All applicants are required to pass USMLE Step-2 before starting in a first-year position.

Interviews

Each application is reviewed in its entirety with an eye toward a combination of overall academic excellence, leadership ability, career development potential and personal character. Qualified individuals will be invited to interview. Interviews are held on selected days from November through the following January. No interviews are scheduled without an invitation, and no individual interviews are scheduled outside of these scheduled sessions. Any candidate who is invited to interview must contact the Surgical Education Office to confirm acceptance of the invitation.

Neurosurgery Grand Rounds

The Department of Neurosurgery presents Neurosurgery Grand Rounds virtually the 4th Wednesday of the month from 7:30 am – 8:30 am. Please email Deidre Buckley, NP if you are interested in participating.

January 26, 2022
“Title Talk”
Christopher Shaffrey, MD
Chief, Spine Division
Duke University Medical Center
Mailing: Box 3077, Durham, NC 27710
Admin: Email

February 23, 2022
Al Cohen, MD, FACS, FAAP, FAANS
Professor of Neurosurgery
Director, Johns Hopkins Pediatric Neurosurgery
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Baltimore, MD 21287

March 30, 2022
“The evolving Chiari paradox”
Robert F. Keating, MD
Professor and Chief Division of Neurosurgery
Children’s National Medical Center
George Washington School of Medicine
Washington, DC 20010
Email Dr. Keating

April 27, 2022
“Title Talk”
Louis J. Kim, MD
Vice Chairman and Professor of Neurological Surgery
Chief of the Neurological Surgery Service at Harborview Medical Center
Wallace T. Staatz Endowed Professor
Email Dr. Kim

May 25, 2022
Mike Sughrue, MD
Brain Tumor Connectomics
Australia

June 29, 2022
Richard Fessler, MD
Rush Neurosurgery
1725 W Harrison St
Professional Building, Suite 855
Chicago, IL 60612
Email Dr. Fessler

July 27, 2022
Michael Schulder, MD, FAANS
Residency Program Director
Director, Brain Tumor Center
Professor and Vice Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
450 Lakeville Road
Lake Success, NY 11042

August 31, 2022
James Markert, MD, MPH
UAB Department of Neurosurgery
1060 Faculty Office Tower
1720 2nd Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35294
Email Dr. Markert

September 28, 2022
“Clinical Trials in Neurosurgery – Are we changing practice?”
Zoher Ghogawala, MD FACS
Charles A. Fager Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery
Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center
Burlington, Massachusetts 01805
Email Dr. Ghogawala

October 26, 2022
Ziev Moses, MD
BIDMC Neurosurgery
110 Francis St
Boston, MA 02215
Email Dr. Moses

November 30, 2022
Carl Heilman, MD
Neurosurgery, Tufts Medical Center
800 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02111
Email Dr. Heilman

December 28, 2022

Contact Information

Neurosurgery Sub-Internship

Our Sub-Internship Program for 4th Year Medical Students

We welcome fourth-year medical students to rotate with us. Our elective rotation in Neurological Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is affiliated with Harvard Medical School (HMS). The rotation is offered every month.

Rotation Application Process

Harvard Medical School uses the AAMC’s Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO) system for visiting student rotations. Please apply through VSLO no later than 90 days prior to your desired clerkship start date. Please note, there are multiple Neurosurgery electives listed through HMS. The BIDMC Neurosurgery rotation is elective number: SU509M.5a. View our elective rotation in VSLO.

Please send us an email to let us know you are interested in rotating with us and will be applying. We request that you send us a copy of your application to the email address below so we can help facilitate the process.

Second, if there is an issue regarding the dates of rotations not lining up with your school's calendar, please contact us.

Third, a note about immunizations, HMS and BIDMC require proof of immunity. Documentation of vaccination is not sufficient, they require positive antibody titers. Please read the instructions carefully.

The HMS Registrar will notify you of acceptance 90 days before the start of the rotation. For any additional questions regarding the application process, you may contact the HMS Registrar’s office by calling 617-432-1515 or by emailing us.

Meet Our Residents