Spinal Surgery Fellowship

Vast ideologies in spine are represented and lived out at Cedars-Sinai, from motion preservation to minimally invasive and truly conservative noninvasive techniques. On any given day, one could scrub into anything from a motion preservation case or an MIS case to a scoliosis or trauma 1 case. We are at the leading edge of spine every day.

Two positions are available either from neurosurgery or orthopedic surgery. Interested candidates should contact the San Francisco Match or Stacey Wilson at stacey.wilson3@cshs.org.

Mission of Fellowship

The mission of the fellowship program is to instill the combination of surgical expertise, experience and precision with a strong moral, ethical and work background. Our fellowship seeks to attract and train only those candidates who possess an exemplary sense of responsibility, integrity and discipline to be successful in their career choices.

Our ultimate goal is to produce a well trained, academically oriented, disciplined, fellowship-trained complex spine surgeon to serve as both a clinical and community leader with uncompromising personal and professional values.

Goals and Objectives

The Spinal Surgery Fellowship Program at the Cedars-Sinai Spine Center provides training in the care for the entire spectrum of spinal diseases. This spectrum of care can be divided broadly into six categories:

• Core knowledge
  
• Clinical evaluation
  
• Operative management
  
• Pre- and postoperative care
  
• Nonoperative management
  
• Basic and clinical research experience
  

Candidates will be expected to not only assist with ongoing projects but will be encouraged to develop lab investigations of their own design and interest.

The educational goals of the Spinal Surgery Fellowship Program are to:

• Provide an exceptional didactic educational environment to superbly train a spine fellow in the evaluation, diagnosis, nonoperative and operative treatment of spinal disorders in adolescents and adults
• Educate the fellow thoroughly in the decision-making process to understand the ramifications and possible complications of treatment, rehabilitation or potential revision required to obtain an optimal result
  
• Provide an outpatient environment to teach and guide a fellow how to evaluate, manage and follow patients in an outpatient setting
  
• Guide fellows to develop teaching skills by educating residents and medical students
  
• Help fellows amplify research skills in clinical and laboratory settings, along with an active weekly spine conference and multidisciplinary didactic lectures presented every other Wednesday by fellows, developing a more analytical approach to problem-solving and critical literature review through the Monthly Journal Club
  
• Familiarize the fellows with outcome tools and necessary programs to perform outcome research
  
• Provide basic research experience integrated into clinical rotation
  

Duration: The clinical fellowship is a one-year program (Aug. 1 to July 31).

Application deadline: Dec. 1. Applicants are selected through the San Francisco Matching Program; the website has detailed information.

Stipend: Averages $68,039.71 (additional benefits are health, life and professional liability insurance, 20 days paid time off, continuing medical education support, medical book and more)

Location: Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles

Cedars-Sinai's fellowship training has provided an invaluable steppingstone to both excellent private practice and academic positions at the nation's most prestigious medical centers.