Neurocritical Care Fellowship

The Neurocritical Care Fellowship is an American College of Graduate Medical Education (AGCME) and United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS) accredited fellowship program. The program accepts two fellows annually for a one- or two-year training commitment depending on clinical background.

Our fellows train at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, a premier institution and tertiary referral center in the vibrant city of Chicago IL. Northwestern Memorial Hospital is ranked #6 in the Nation for clinical performance in Neurology and Neurosurgery. Northwestern University was ranked #6 in the Nation in the 2024 BRIMR rankings of NIH funding. We are designated Level 1 Trauma Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center with the highest level of recognition from the AHA’s Get with The Guidelines.

Mission Statement:

The Neurocritical Care fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital seeks to train clinical fellows in the comprehensive multisystem care of critically-ill neurologic patients and in the care of the general critical care patient population while pursuing individualized career development objectives and mentorship that empower fellows to engage in additional spheres of academic medicine (such as but not limited to: research, medical education, bioethics, global health, public health policy, health care administration, health equity and advocacy). Graduates of the fellowship are capable of independently practicing the subspeciality of Neurocritical Care and will have sufficient knowledge and skills, in the judgement of the faculty, to become board certified in neurocritical care.

Pediatric Neurocritical Care Fellowship Neurocritical Care Division

Education

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

Research

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.

Clinical Experience

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.

Requirements

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.

How to Apply

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

Fellowship Alumni

Graduation Year	Fellow	Practice
2024	Rafal Sobota, MD, PhD	Northwestern University, Assistant Professor, Neurointensivist
2024	Fady Mousa-Ibrahim, DO	Stroger Hospital, Cook County Health, Neurointensivist
2023	Kelly Donohue, MD	McHenry Hospital, Neurointensivist and Neuroimmunologist
2023	Mengxuan (Jo) Tang, MD	University of Minnesota, Assistant Professor, Neurointensivist
2022	Isaac Bourgeois, MS	Advocate Aurora Health, Neurointensivist
2022	Katherine Schwartz, DO	Advocate Aurora Health and Rosalind Franklin University, Assistant Professor, Neurointensivist and Epileptologist
2021	Michael Cloney, MD	University of Michigan, Assistant Professor, Neurointensivist and Neurosurgeon
2021	Katherine Colton, MD	Duke University, Assistant Professor, Neurointensivist
2021	Neil Nadkarni, MD	Stony Brook University, Clinical Assistant Professor, Neurointensivist
2020	Viren Patel, MD	University of Hawaii, Assistant Professor, Neurointensivist
2020	Shannon Hextrum, MD	Rush University, Assistant Professor, Neurointensivist
2020	Ameeta Karmarkar, MD	Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, Neurohospitalist
2019	Dionne Swor, DO	University of Toledo, Assistant Professor, Neurointensivist
2019	William Metcalf-Doetsch, MD	Northwestern University, Assistant Professor, Vascular Neurosurgeon
2018	Alan Long, MD	Community Medical Centers, Neurology and Neurocritical Care
2018	Stephen Trevick, MD	Northwest Neurology, Neurohospitalist
2017	Rajbeer Sangha, MD	Touro University, Assistant Professor, Stroke and Neurocritical Care
2017	Robin A. Bush, MD	University of Alabama, Birmingham, Assistant Professor, Neurointensivist
2016	Brandon Francis, MD, MPH	Michigan State University, Trinity Health, Assistant Professor, Neurointensivist, Chief Medical Officer
2014	James Guth, MD	Loma Linda University, Assistant Professor, Division Chief Neurocritical Care
2014	Eric M. Liotta, MD, MS	Northwestern University, Assistant Professor, Neurocritical Care
2012	Neil F. Rosenberg, MD	Intermountain Medical Center, Neurointensivist, ICU and Stroke Medical Director
2010	Rajeev Garg, MD, MS	Rush University, Associate Professor, Division Chief Neurocritical Care

Why Northwestern?

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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Our Current Fellows

Jiayue Yuan, MD

Siyuan Liu, MD, PhD

Tse (Phil) Chiang Chen, MD

Yuzhe Liu, MD, PhD

Contact Us

Jenna Ford, MD

Program Director, Neurocritical Care

neurocritical-care, education

jenna.ford1( at )nm.org

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Thomas P Bleck

Associate Program Director, Neurocritical Care Fellowship

neurocritical-care, education

View Faculty Profile

Jocelynn V Alfonso

Fellowship Coordinator (Program Assistant 4)

neurocritical-care, stroke-vascular-neurology, education, hospital-neurology

Jocelynn.alfonso( at )northwestern.edu

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