Resident support and benefits
The Department of Neurosurgery at VCU is committed to providing an environment that fosters education beyond that of the residency program. To that end, the department offers opportunities to gain experience in settings outside the operating room, obtain a Ph.D. and participate in research fellowships. In addition, a staff of nurses, MLPs, orderlies, EMTs, intensivists and pharmacists assist with routine tasks, allowing residents to focus on their patients and further develop their skills.
Pay and benefits
The current pay scale and benefits for residents are available from the School of Medicine.
Educational support
Ph.D. program
The Department of Neurosurgery believes strongly in fostering the desire and direction of the academic neurosurgeon. As such, the department will support any resident wishing to complete a Ph.D. program during their residency.
Financial support and protected time to complete course work, as well as mentorship and support toward completion of all research requirements is provided by the department. With extreme focus and drive, the Ph.D. program can be completed during the formal residency; however, this is not an easy task and may require one additional year, PGY-8, to finalize and defend the Ph.D. The department will work with residents who require additional time and compose a plan to accommodate the residents’ needs outside of residency.
Professional Education Accounts
This defined spending account is available to residents for education expenses, such as subscriptions, books, travel and conferences. Additional travel support is also provided to residents who have a presentation accepted at the regional and national levels.
Clinical support
The Department of Neurosurgery is committed to optimizing the resident educational experience by relieving our residents of routine, service-oriented tasks. The department employs six full-time nurse coordinators, five full-time and one part-time MLP (NPs and PAs), all of whom assist the faculty and residents with a wide variety of clinical issues. Their support in the areas of scheduling, arranging tests, performing history and physicals, outpatient follow-up care, OR scheduling coordination, and inpatient care coordination and discharge planning relieves the residents from these duties. The department also has two MLPs for similar assistance at the McGuire VA Hospital.
Several OR nurses and special technicians, each with extensive experience in the field of neurosurgery, are assigned to neurosurgery service and aid the residents and faculty. The nurses and technicians provide assistance by performing phlebotomies and coordinating procurement of necessary equipment for surgery. One full-time nurse practitioner is also available to run a clinic five days a week, performing initial screenings for spinal patients, and a part-time nurse practitioner who runs a clinic three days a week completing histories and physicals.
Routine patient transport is performed by hospital orderlies, while the SEALS team, consisting of EMTs employed by the hospital, is responsible for monitored transportation of patients from the intensive care unit. Any unstable patients requiring transportation for studies or surgery are accompanied by residents or faculty members.
VCU Medical Center also employs ICU intensivists to provide daily support to the residents by following up on patient orders and labs based on direction from the neurosurgery service. Two doctors of pharmacy assist with the pharmaceutical care of neurosurgical patients.
GME support
The GME Department at VCU provides residents with a resident conference room, exercise equipment, TV room and kitchen in the West Hospital on the south wing of the sixth floor.
The office also provides a team/on-call room for the neurosurgery service, located adjacent the neuroscience ICU, to allow easy access to patients, especially during night float rotations. The room is equipped with seating and sleeping availability, a desk and hospital computers, a telephone, shower, and bathroom facilities.
In addition to facilities, the GME office provides a monthly meal stipend based on work and on-call hours. This stipend can be used at any time in the cafeteria or vending machines on campus.
Special opportunities
Neurosurgical mission trips
For the past 13 years, the Department of Neurosurgery has had the opportunity to include the resident staff in furthering their medical and surgical experience by participating in various pediatric mission trips to underdeveloped countries. Under the leadership of John Ward, and more recently Gary Tye, the residents have been able to see patients in such countries as Guatemala, Honduras, Guyana, St. Lucia and St. Vincent.
The children evaluated in these clinics present with profound congenital abnormalities and are evaluated and provided with surgical repairs. Those children with more severe surgical needs that require intensive care are brought back to VCU for surgery.
The experience of seeing first hand the medical environment in underdeveloped countries, coupled with the volume of patients seen and operated on, surpasses any case numbers or training that would be available during a typical residency program. In addition, the knowledge of how to care for children with such significant disabilities, outside of what would be considered standard of care in our country, teaches residents to be much more compassionate and caring physicians. We believe that this experience is unmatched in comparison to most residency programs today.
Eastern Shore neurology rotation
Another unique feature for neurosurgery program at VCU is the opportunity for residents to spend one of their three months in neurology on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, an underserved area with many unusual neurological cases.
The mentor for this rotation is neurologist Dr. Robert Pascha, who holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Neurosurgery and has collaborated with the department to jointly manage patients from the Eastern Shore for many years. Dr. Paschal has encyclopedic knowledge of neurology and is a master of the neurologic examination. Combine these talents with his unbounded enthusiasm for teaching and there is no wonder that the neurosurgery residents rate this rotation as one of the best and most memorable in their medical training.
In-folded fellowship
The field of neurosurgery is changing and expanding, with many historic neurosurgical procedures being performed by other medical and surgical professionals. The need for additional specialized training to remain competitive and keep procedures within the neurosurgical realm is becoming increasingly important.
Neurosurgery residents who are interested in specialized training in areas not available through our program will be afforded consideration for participation in external fellowships during their residency training at VCU. To be eligible for this opportunity, the resident must have reached a level of training and ability commensurate with fellowship requirements. All fellowship participation must be discussed and approved by the residency director and chairman prior to application and time spent in fellowship does not equate to residency PGY years completed for the program.