Operative Experience & Technical TrainingWith the formation in 2003 of Rochester Neurosurgery, “a regional initiative to promote improvements in the care of Neuroscience diseases”, the Department of Neurosurgery assumed leadership of Neurosurgical care across all health systems serving the Rochester region. This has dramatically impacted the number of cases performed at our teaching hospital, Strong Memorial Hospial.
This increase in operative experience has been most profound in some of the most poorly represented cases in neurosurgery, including pituitary and skull base surgery, primary tumor surgery, peripheral nerve surgery, and movement disorders surgery. Together with our w ell established strengths in simple and complex spine surgery and epilepsy surgery, our Department now provides operative experience in all subspecialty areas. Technical skills are acquired from day one with gradual but early exposure to the technical challenges of neurosurgery. Specific educational goals and objectives are outlined on a PGY basis. Technical training increases in intensity and responsibility, culminating in the independent operative experience of the senior years of residency. As can be seen by the chief resident case volumes, the growth in our department has translated into a much greater operative experience for our graduates.
Technical skill acquisition depends not only on the case material available, but also on the quality and skills of the educators. In this regard, our faculty are drawn from training programs throughout the country, representing different "styles" of approach to surgical decision-making. This team of surgical educators is supervised by Dr. Paul Maurer, Chief of Technical Neurosurgical Training.
Dr. Maurer is one of the nations most gifted surgical teachers, and together with the other faculty in the Department, he ensures that residents leave this program equipped to tackle any surgical challenge that arises in their practice. |
