Neurosurgery Residency Program

The Neurosurgery Residency Program at Albany Medical Center is approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The five-year program follows one year of general surgery training at Albany Medical Center. Two residents are accepted every other year (2-1-2-1-2) through the San Francisco Match. All aspects of neurosurgical practice, including prehospital evaluation, in-hospital assessment and treatment, and postdischarge follow-up, are included in the training program. In the past year, over l700 operative procedures were performed, exposing the resident to the entire spectrum of neurosurgical disorders.

Participation in neurosciences research and instruction in teaching skills provide residents with a diversified training experience. Basic rotations include clinical neurosurgery (45 months, including chief resident year), laboratory research (12 months), neuropathology and neuroradiology (3 months combined). A 3 month neurology rotation is taken in PGY-1.

All residents take the written examination of the American Board of Neurological Surgery yearly for self-assessment and are required to pass the exam for credit prior to their chief residency year.

The Albany Medical Center has major programs in the following areas of Neurosurgery:

Cerebrovascular Surgery
Neuro-Oncology
Pediatric Neurosurgery
Skull-Base Surgery
Stereotactic Surgery including Radio Surgery/DBS
Complex Spine Surgery
Epilepsy Surgery

Albany Medical Center recently completed a $166 million facilities development program. Included in this are new and expanded outpatient and inpatient facilities. The redesigned Emergency Department has its own CT scanner and state-of-the-art trauma rooms with radiological capabilities.

Neurosurgery patients are assigned to a special 24-bed neuroscience inpatient area. There is also a designated Spinal Cord Injury Unit and rehabilitation facilities are located near these areas. In addition, the Neurosurgical service has patients in the Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Units. There are designated Neurosurgical operating rooms, which are fully equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. We have an acute stroke program with a dedicated 8 bed stroke unit as well as a 6 bed inpatient epilepsy monitoring unit.

For more information or to request an application, direct your inquiries to:

John Popp, MD
Program Director
Albany Medical Center
43 New Scotland Avenue,
Mail Code 10 Albany, New York 12208-3478
ATTN: Michelle Unser