Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowship

The Pediatric Neurosurgical Fellowship at Nicklaus Children's Hospital and the University of Miami is designed to build upon the skills and knowledge acquired in neurosurgery residency and provides comprehensive training in the management of pediatric neurosurgical conditions. This is a one-year clinical fellowship which includes extensive exposure to all major areas of pediatric neurosurgery. The Fellowship is accredited by the Accreditation Council of Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowships (ACPNF) and qualifies otherwise eligible applicants to pursue certification by the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery (ABPNS).

There is only one fellow assigned to the Pediatric Neurosurgical Service at Nicklaus Children's Hospital each year. One resident is also assigned full time to the pediatric neurosurgery service. The fellow is based at Nicklaus Children's Hospital, the only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children in South Florida. It is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with several specialty programs ranked among the best in the nation according to the U.S.News & World Report survey of children's hospitals.

Curriculum

The fellow will oversee the pediatric neurosurgery service at Nicklaus Children's Hospital and Jackson Memorial Hospital. Inpatient responsibilities include seeing inpatient consults and active involvement in the preoperative, operative, postoperative, and nonoperative management of pediatric neurosurgical patients. Fellow participation is important and encouraged in our multidisciplinary clinics including neuro-oncology, spasticity, epilepsy, and neural tube defect clinics. We have a highly collaborative interaction with our colleagues in these clinics, as well as in epilepsy, general neurology, rehabilitation, hospitalist, neuropathology, and neuroradiology.

There are opportunities for basic and clinical research during the fellowship as well as an extensive conference schedule. The fellow will be expected to attend weekly educational conferences at Nicklaus Children's Hospital and the University of Miami. The fellow will be expected to make presentations at many of these conferences. Research efforts and academic publications are encouraged and guidance toward these is provided. Team research meetings are held periodically to augment the fellow’s research experience and provide a forum for mentorship.

Our fellow graduates are academically productive, placed in desirable faculty positions following the fellowship, and are emerging leaders in the field. Our program will fully fund the exam fee for the ABPNS recognized focused practice (RFP) exam in pediatric neurological surgery, if taken during the fellowship year.

How to Apply

Applicants must apply through the San Francisco Match in addition to emailing applications and corresponding documents to Kari Bollerman. (Contact information displayed below.)

  1. Curriculum Vitae
  2. Personal Statement
  3. Three (3) letters of recommendation (one written by the Director of your Residency Program or Chair of your Department)
  4. Photo
  5. And other items as indicated in the application.
Application Form (PDF)
Application deadline October 1
Length of Fellowship 1 year
Interview start and end dates July through October
Number of fellowship positions available per year One fellow taken every year
Prerequisites Doctor of Medicine degree, completed Chief Residency in an approved neurosurgical program, qualify for Florida state training license (Passed USMLE Steps 1 & 2)

About Our Staff

Our pediatric neurosurgeons, Drs. Toba Niazi, John Ragheb, Robert Buckley, and Kristen Stabingas are all ACPNF fellowship-trained and board-certified by both the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery. Our faculty has a prominent role in neurosurgical professional organizations including the ABPNS, the ASPN, the ISPN, and the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Neurological Surgery. Nicklaus Children's Hospital has, perhaps, the largest national experience in the surgical treatment of epilepsy in young children. The Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery is one of the busiest referral centers in the country for pediatric brain tumors and epilepsy. Nicklaus Children's Hospital also boasts widely recognized surgical programs for craniosynostosis, craniofacial syndromes, spasticity, and spina bifida. Nicklaus Children's Hospital's pediatric neurosurgeons are internationally recognized for endoscopic management of hydrocephalus and are the founders of a sustained program in Haiti to treat indigent children with hydrocephalus. Active clinical and translational research projects are underway including research in pediatric brain tumors, neuro-oncology, epilepsy, tuberous sclerosis, head trauma, Chiari malformations, and eosinophilic granuloma.