Program Coordinator: Badih Adada, MD
Duration: 4 weeks, Full time
Availability: Year-round
No. of Students: 1

Prerequisite

Completion of all core clerkships. Open to senior medical students.

Objectives

To provide students with an introduction to Neurosurgery including, but not limited to:

General

  • Glasgow Coma Scale
  • The neurological exam
  • Detailed examination of a comatose patient
  • Ventriculostomy and ICP monitors
  • CSF dynamics and content
  • Basic interpretation of brain and spine CT scans and MRIs
  • Traumatic brain injury and elevated ICP
  • Management of subdural and epidural hematomas

Spine


  • Dermatomes and myotomes
  • Myelopathy Radiculopathy
  • Spinal cord syndromes
  • Cauda equina syndrome
  • Low back pain work-up and management
  • Spinal stenosis
  • Discogenic pain
  • Spinal decompression
  • Spinal fusion
  • Traumatic injuries to the spine

  • ASIA scale

Tumors

  • Epidemiology & presentation
  • Cerebral Edema
  • Primary brain tumor management (i.e., GBM, meningioma)
  • Brain metastases management
  • Radiosurgery
  • Skull base surgery
  • Endoscopic surgery
  • Pituitary and sellar tumors; endocrinologic considerations
  • Spine tumors

Epilepsy

  • Types of seizures
  • Seizure monitoring
  • Etiology anti-epileptic drug management

Functional

  • Trigeminal neuralgia and pain disorders management
  • Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for movement disorders

Vascular

  • Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (SAH) management
  • Seizures, hydrocephalus, vasospasm
  • Aneurysm treatment options: Clipping vs coiling
  • Vascular Malformations
  • Intracerebral Hemorrhage
  • Stroke, ischemic and hemorrhagic

Description

The neurosurgery clerkship provides basic insight into the clinical neurosciences. It will allow students to form the basis for knowledge of neurological diseases and how they are managed both surgically and non-surgically. Some examples of surgeries encountered on our service include: aneurysm surgery with craniotomy or endovascular coiling or stenting, brain tumor surgery, epilepsy surgery, trans-nasal surgery, deep brain stimulation and spine surgery, including minimally invasive and deformity correction surgery.

Clerkship students spend a total of 4 weeks on service and become immersed in our day-to-day service, functioning essentially as a supervised intern, working closely with our cohesive group of mid-level providers and attendings in the inpatient, outpatient, and operating room settings. Students are encouraged to participate in the evaluation and management of our patients, make rounds with our teams, attend clinics, observe ICU procedures and surgeries, as well as attend academic conferences. Though a surgical specialty, clerkship hours are similar to other medical student Clerkships and will never exceed 80 hours/week with a maximum of 16 hour shifts.

Evaluation

Evaluations will be distributed by the MSE department to the preceptor at the end of the rotation.