Program Overview
Duration: 1 year
Dates: August 1 – July 31
Interviews: In person or via teleconference at NASS meeting or between December and March.
Stipend: to be determined annually but comparable to market.
Deadline for applications: November 1st before the April match.
Match: Please review and submit your application and materials through https://www.sfmatch.org/
Description
This spine surgery fellowship is a remarkable opportunity. Oakland Medical Center’s spine surgery department handles approximately 1500 spine surgeries and 5800 spine consultations/evaluations annually, making it the largest and busiest medical center within the Northern California Kaiser Permanente network. We serve as a referral center for the Northern California Bay Area, providing expertise in various spine pathologies, including degenerative, adult and pediatric deformity, oncology, and infectious disease.
Our comprehensive experience includes a wide range of minimally invasive spine procedures, from endoscopy to percutaneous instrumentation. Motion-preserving surgeries, such as cervical and lumbar arthroplasty, and laminoplasty, are routine alongside standard decompressions. Additionally, we handle complex fusion/instrumentation cases extending from the occipital-cervical to the lumbosacral junction.
Our spine surgeons perform our own access for anterior thoracic, thoracolumbar, and lumbosacral spine surgeries, utilizing 3-4 dedicated operating rooms every day. The curriculum for this fellowship has a strong focus on education while developing clinical skills. This hands-on fellowship is supported by experienced, dedicated, and knowledgeable staff, including Physiatrists, physician assistants, clinic nurses, and hospitalists who provide essential non-surgical care. A dedicated hospitalist service takes care of medically complex patients during evenings and weekends, offering 24/7 admissions for transferred patients and postoperative monitoring.
As a spine surgery fellow, you will have access to excellent clinical research resources, suitable for presentations and publications. These resources include a national registry and an internal annual grant application process. Additionally, we conduct multidisciplinary meetings, offering CME credits, where you can collaborate with experts from neurosurgery, pediatrics, PM&R, and other spine surgery departments.
There is one position currently with plans for expansion. The spine fellowship program is also applying for ACGME accreditation. To apply for this fellowship, candidates must be Board-eligible in either orthopedic surgery or neurosurgery and hold a California license by August 1 of the fellowship year.
Research Opportunities
- Medical Device Surveillance Assessment Registry
- Annual Kaiser Foundation Community Grant Proposal
- Kaiser Permanente East Bay Academy Research Symposium
Spine Surgery Components
The spine surgery fellowship involves
- 80% operative care and 20% non-operative care
- Research and publications are accessible but optional
- Approximate percentage of exposure to the spine by region include 60% lumbar, 30% cervical, 10% thoracic
- Approximate percentage of fellowship exposure to the spine by diagnostic category will be 40% Degenerative, 10% Trauma, 10% Infection, 20% Deformity, 10% Tumor, 10% Pediatric
Education and Conferences
(subject to change)
- Weekly pre- and postoperative conference
- Monthly Regional spine surgery case conference
- Monthly Pediatric Neurosurgery case conference
- Monthly PM&R case conference
- Monthly Spine CME accredited Webinar
- Monthly Scoliosis Case Conference
- Monthly Trauma Case conference with PA
- Monthly OR Quality Assurance Meetings with Operating room staff, nurses, technicians
Program Location
Kaiser Permanente
3600 Broadway
1st Floor, Suite 15
Oakland, CA 94611