Neurosurgery

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine offers a four-week elective rotation in neurosurgery with the Neuroscience Department in Danville, Pa. Our department provides care for patients of all ages, from newborns to the elderly. We provide comprehensive neurosurgical care that includes all subspecialty areas, such as brain tumors, complex spine reconstruction, peripheral nerve disorders, pediatric neurosurgery, hydrocephalus, stereotactic radiosurgery, brain and spine trauma, trigeminal neuralgia, chronic pain surgery, interventional neuroradiology procedures and many other realms of neurosurgery.

Integration into our services happens as you become active in the daily care of patients. You’ll be expected to attend all educational conferences, contribute on rounds and attend surgical cases in the OR and stereotactic radiosurgery cases in radiation oncology. There will be daily opportunities for you to contribute to outpatient care in the clinic setting. These opportunities are individualized for you, depending on your interests. Neurosurgical residents will provide added guidance and teaching during your externship with the neurosurgical service. You’ll have opportunities to scrub and observe/assist in neurosurgical procedures.

A portion of our cases are done with an operating microscope, which allows the assistants and observers to watch the entire procedure on a monitor. Optional opportunities to take call with the physician assistants, residents and staff will be provided for interested students. We have an educational lecture series which is solely for the medical students. The syllabus provides a short presentation for you to discuss with the team daily during the rotation. Each lecture is designed to require between 10 to 30 minutes for preparation and discussion. This syllabus will be provided on the first day of the rotation.

Goals and objectives

The overall educational objective is to provide each medical student with a very broad overview of the breadth and scope of a busy neurosurgical practice, including a vast array of pathology. You’ll be exposed to patients with brain tumors, complex spine reconstruction, peripheral nerve disorders, pediatric neurosurgery, hydrocephalus, stereotactic radiosurgery, brain and spine trauma, trigeminal neuralgia, chronic pain surgery and many other realms of neurosurgery. Specific educational goals include:

• Gain an understanding of the very broad breadth and scope of a neurosurgical department.
• Review topic in the daily lecture syllabus.
• Attend surgical cases in the OR, neuroendovascular suite and radiation oncology. Students will be provided opportunity to scrub into cases and assist and/or observe the surgeons and residents directly.
• Attend outpatient clinic. 
• Participate in optional on-call opportunities.