Neurocritical Care Fellowship

Neurocritical Care fellows train in close collaboration with fellows from the anesthesia and surgical critical care fellowship programs thanks to a unique, interdepartmental didactic program. In addition, fellows from our world-class pulmonary-medical critical care and cardiology programs join for regular critical care journal clubs and other lectures. Fellows from one of the nation’s few pediatric neurocritical care fellowship program, based at the affiliated Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, rotate for a month on the adult neuro-ICU service and participate in joint didactics as well.

Along with other critical care fellows at Northwestern, our fellows participate in a monthly critical care simulation program facilitated by faculty across a variety of specialties. Programming includes:

• Weekly neurocritical care lecture
• Weekly vascular neurology journal club or didactic
• Weekly multidisciplinary neurovascular case conference attended by neurocritical care, vascular neurology, neurosurgery, neuro interventional radiology
• Weekly critical care medicine didactic
• Monthly interdisciplinary ICU-EEG case conference
• Quarterly POCUS case conference

This fellowship program focuses on preparing trainees for academic careers by providing unique exposure to clinical research, supervision and formal teaching of medical students and residents and career mentorship. Division faculty are actively engaged in research, regularly publishing in high-impact journals and lecturing both locally and at major conferences on neurology and critical care topics. Within the past few years, our research has been accepted for publication in Neurology, Stroke, Annals of Neurology, JNNP, AJRCCM, Critical Care, J Critical Care, Neurocritical Care, Critical Care Medicine and other top journals. Aside from the division core faculty, affiliated faculty from anesthesia critical care, surgical critical care, vascular neurology, epilepsy, neuroradiology and neurosurgery regularly contribute to our educational and research efforts. There is ample opportunity for fellows to develop their CVs in anticipation of securing faculty positions upon completion of the program. Fellows in our group regularly have abstracts accepted to national conferences and first-authored research manuscripts submitted to major journals.

The fellowship is based in a dedicated 20-bed neuroscience-spine intensive care unit (NSICU) that admits neurology, neurosurgery, interventional neuroradiology, trauma surgery, and spine surgery patients. Northwestern Memorial Hospital is one of five Level 1 trauma centers in Chicago, so the NSICU receives a large volume of penetrating and non-penetrating brain and spine injuries. Critical care management is provided by two teams headed by board-certified anesthesiology and neurology trained neuro-intensivists, with regular rotation of attendings, fellows and residents from neurology, neurosurgery, and anesthesiology to ensure a broad exposure on multidisciplinary teams. The neuro-intensivist-led team serves as the primary team to neurology and vascular admissions, in addition to their general critical care duties. Neurosurgical patients are managed collaboratively with our neurosurgical colleagues. Other core rotations include surgical ICU, medical ICU, inpatient stroke service, and continuous EEG. Many other elective opportunities are available, including cardiology and echocardiography, OR-based anesthesia/airway management, inpatient epilepsy/neuromonitoring and interventional pulmonology.

Candidates must have completed an ACGME- or RCPSC-accredited program in the United States or Canada in one of the residency programs acceptable per ACGME or UCNS program requirements: neurology, neurological surgery, internal medicine, anesthesiology, surgery, child neurology or emergency medicine. They must be board-certified or eligible for board certification in their primary specialty at the time they would commence neurocritical care fellowship training.

According to ACGME and UNCS program requirements, the duration of fellowship training may be shortened for some applicants with prior ACGME training in critical care or neurosurgery. Our program can accommodate such arrangements.

Note: We cannot consider any applicant who does not meet the ACGME or UCNS eligibility criteria.

Candidates are selected for the neurocritical care fellowship from eligible applicants based upon their preparedness, ability, aptitude, academic credentials, communication skills and personal qualities. No discrimination is made based upon sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, disability or veteran status. We can sponsor J1 visas; H1B visas are considered for exceptional applicants. Approximately two-thirds of the eligible applicants are invited for personal interviews.

We participate in the electronic San Francisco match service. All candidates must register with the SF Match to submit a rank list. Applications open in early January and we request that interested candidates submit applications by February 2nd for the match that occurs in August. Interviews are typically held between March and May.

Applicants should submit:

• CV
• Personal statement that articulates their interest and anticipated career goals in the field
• Three letters of recommendation

Housestaff training through McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University provides diverse and challenging clinical experiences and world-class education located in the heart of the beautiful city of Chicago.

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