Neurosurgery Home > Residency > The Program

University of Illinois
Medical Center
at Chicago

Residency

The University

The Department

Application Process

University of Illinois
Department of Neurosurgery
912 S. Wood Street
4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60612
phone: 312-996-4842

The Residency Program

The neurosurgical residency at UIC is a 7-year Program, fully accredited by the RRC/ACGME. The program includes 6 months of surgical internship and 61/2 years of neurosurgery. When a student is accepted in to our neurosurgery program, General Surgery at UIC will automatically accept the student for his/her surgical internship year. The general structure of the program is as follows:

Internship (PGY 1):

  • 6 months of General Surgery rotations
  • 3 months of Neurology
  • 3 months of Neurosurgical Critical Care

Junior Residency (PGY 2,3)
PGY2

  • 6-9 months Neurosurgical Critical Care
  • 3-6 months of Elective Rotations (including endovascular and functional/radiosurgery)

PGY3

  • 12 months General Neurosurgery (focusing on spine surgery, peripheral nerve surgery, pain/functional procedures and basic cranial procedures)
  • Outpatient clinics is interspersed throughout the junior years

Senior Residency (PGY 4,5,6)
PGY4

  • 9 months General Neurosurgery (resident gains increasing responsibility for operative procedures and access to more complex case-mix, including complex spine and cranial surgery)
  • 3 month Pediatric rotation at Children's Memorial Hospital

Research (PGY 5)

  • The PGY5 year is dedicated as a research year. Each resident has the opportunity to pursue projects of interest in an area of clinical or basic research
  • The scientific resources of the Department and University are readily available to the resident

PGY6

  • 12 month rotation at Advocate Christ Hospital and Medical Center which provides exposure to spine and cranial trauma, and skull base surgery
  • During this year the resident takes no in-house call, and functions in an increasingly independent manner, serving as a prelude to the official Chief Resident year

Chief Residency (PGY 7)

  • The Chief Resident year is spent running the neurosurgical service at UIC, gaining a full range of experience in cerebrovascular surgery, further exposure to microsurgery through complex cranial cases, and additional experience in complex spine surgery
  • The Chief Resident performs a large and varied number of cases, while
    assuming a prominent teaching role for the residents on service


Residents are required to take and pass USMLE step 3 in their PGY1 year. Residents must also take the written neurosurgery board for credit in their PGY4 year and pass it before their Chief Residency year.

Past graduates of the Neurosurgery Residency program at UIC have gone on to successful practices in both academic and community neurosurgery. Several have remained at UIC to continue the excellent work they began during their training.

Conference Schedules

  • Monthly Grand Rounds (Visiting Lecturers)
  • Monthly Morbidity and Mortality Conference
  • Biweekly Academic Day Conference Schedule (Neuropathology Conference,
    Neurosurgical Topic Lecture Series, Neuroanatomy Laboratory/Lecture
    series)
  • Weekly alternating schedule of Journal Club, Neuroscience Research
    Breakfast Seminar, Neurosurgical Case/Neurosurgical Topics Presentation
  • Daily Neuroradiology Teaching Rounds
  • Biweekly ICU Teaching Rounds
  • Quarterly hands-on operative technique and microsurgery workshops
    (cadaver and surgical models)