Neurosurgery | Clinician Education

The Boston Children’s Hospital Department of Neurosurgery is committed to providing specialized, pediatric-focused training to the next generation of neurosurgeons. To this end, we offer three fellowship programs, each of which has a unique focus that will provide world-class education to an individual pursuing intensive clinical training.

Boston Children’s established the John Shillito Staff Associate/Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowship in honor of John Shillito, MD, a member of the Neurosurgery Department for 37 years. Shillito trained under former Boston Children’s neurosurgeons-in-chief Franc Ingraham, MD, and Donald Matson, MD, who are regarded as the founders of modern pediatric neurosurgery. Patients, parents, and colleagues alike have been influenced and inspired by Shillito’s skill as a surgeon, aptitude as a teacher, and warmth as a caregiver.

The Shillito Fellowship supports an outstanding young neurosurgeon every year as he or she pursues intensive, post-graduate clinical training. They are credentialed as a staff associate, and after a period of vetting will have independent admitting and operating privileges with close staff attending back-up. Due to this credentialing process, the fellowship is open only to graduates of North American Neurosurgical training programs. The candidate must either be a U.S. citizen, have a green card, or be eligible for an H1B visa.

The following pediatric neurosurgeons have served as Shillito Fellows since the program’s inception in 1991:

• Benjamin Warf, MD: Boston Children's Hospital
• Mark Luciano, MD, PhD: Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
• David Adelson, MD: Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, Ariz.
• Faith Barnett, MD: The Scripps Clinic, San Diego, Calif.
• David Frim, MD: University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• Michael Medlock, MD: Salem Hospital, Salem, Mass.
• Mark Proctor, MD: Boston Children's Hospital
• Jeffrey Campbell, MD: Nemours Children's Hospital, Wilmington, Del.
• Jodi L. Smith, MD: Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at St. Vincent, Indianapolis, Ind.
• David Sacco, MD: Medical City Children's Hospital, Dallas, Texas
• Michael McCue, MD: Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, Minn.
• Ethan Benardete, MD, PhD: Baylor Scott & White Health Temple, Texas
• Edward Smith, MD: Boston Children's Hospital
• Cormac Maher, MD: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Paul Klimo Jr., MD, PhD: Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.
• Edward Ahn, MD: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
• Ron Grondin, MD, MSc, FRCSC: Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, Tacoma, Wash.
• Suresh Magge, MD: Children's Health of Orange County, Orange, Calif.
• Eric Jackson, MD: Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
• Lance Governale, MD: University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
• Lissa Baird, MD: Boston Children's Hospital, Boston
• Sarah Jernigan, MD: Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, N.C.
• Scellig Stone, MD, PhD: Boston Children's Hospital
• Kristopher Kahle, MD, PhD: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass.
• Jesse Winer, MD: OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Portland, Ore.
• Heather J. McCrea, MD: University of Miami & Holtz Children's Hospital, Miami, Fla.
• Katie Pricola Fehnel, MD: Boston Children's Hospital
• Matthew Vestal, MD: Duke University, Durham, N.C.
• Elsa Arocho-Quinones, MD: Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas, Austin, Texas
• Alfred Pokmeng See, MD: Boston Children's Hospital
• Weston Northam, MD: Boston Children's Hospital
• Cameron Sadegh, MD, PhD: UC Davis Health, Sacramento, Calif.
• Edwin Kulubya, MD: Advanced Pediatric Spine Deformity Fellowship at Columbia University, Children’s Hospital of New York

All Shillito Fellowship applicants must be in the final year of an approved neurosurgery residency in the United States and must obtain a fellowship match number through the San Francisco Matching Program.

For additional information about the John Shillito Fellowship and to apply, please contact our education coordinator at NeurosurgeryEducation@childrens.harvard.edu.

For further inquiries as to the clinical components of the fellowship, please contact:

Scellig S. D. Stone, MD, PhD, FRCSC
Program Director, Shillito Fellowship
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, Harvard Medical School
300 Longwood Ave.
Boston, MA 02453
scellig.stone@childrens.harvard.edu

The International Fellowship has been established to allow international trainees the opportunity to gain expertise in pediatric neurosurgery. The goal of this two-year fellowship is to provide the trainee with the skills, education, support, and network to improve clinical care when they return to their home institution. This will be achieved by working with our faculty prior to the start of the fellowship to develop an individualized training plan. During the first year of the fellowship, trainees will work alongside our faculty, residents, APP team, and researchers to provide clinical care in the operating room, inpatient areas, and outpatient clinical setting.

At the completion of the first year, the fellow would be expected to return to their home institution, with ongoing support of faculty at Boston Children’s. Thorough continued mentorship, education, training visits, and virtual training, the Boston Children’s Department of Neurosurgery would formally support the fellow through the second year to ensure the skills and training received in Boston could be implemented at their home institution.

At the completion of the program, fellows are expected to have knowledge of both the patient management and technical skills required to successfully care for the pediatric neurosurgical patient. It is expected that after this program, the trainee will have significant experience and be able to add meaningfully to the care of patients in his or her home country. Further, with the ongoing training support and collaboration, the Boston Children’s Department of Neurosurgery can help to improve clinical care practices at the trainee’s home institution. In addition to their clinical training, fellows will have the opportunity to pursue mentored clinical research projects throughout their time as a fellow.

This fellowship is open to individuals who have recently finished a neurosurgical resident training program. Please note that the International Fellowship is not recognized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and currently the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) is not sponsoring J-1 visas for this fellowship.

Applicants must be able to obtain a limited (training) license to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and qualify for house-staff privileges at Boston Children’s Hospital. Interested applicants can download this application form with instructions on how to apply.

For additional information about the International Fellowship, including application forms and instructions, please email us at NeurosurgeryEducation@childrens.harvard.edu.

This one-year fellowship will provide multidisciplinary training in the treatment of the full range of cerebrovascular conditions affecting children. This includes moyamoya; brain and spine arteriovenous malformations; pial, dural and extracranial arteriovenous fistulae; vein of Galen malformations; arterial dissections; cerebral aneurysms; acute ischemic stroke; vascular tumors of the head, neck, and spine; and venous and lymphatic vascular malformations.

Boston Children’s draws an unparalleled volume of patients from around the world to its departments of Neurosurgery and Neurology and its Vascular Anomalies Center. The Cerebrovascular Surgery and Interventions Center (CSIC) is a global leader in pediatric operative and endovascular innovation, and trainees will benefit from hands-on utilization of its state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. In addition to clinical training, the unique patient populations and clinical volume provide incomparable opportunities for clinical and translational research, with research productivity expected as a strong component of the fellowship.

Candidates must be graduates of a U.S. medical school or hold a valid Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) certificate and be able to obtain a medical license in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and they must have had exposure to adult endovascular neurosurgical/neurointerventional training, either as a separate fellowship or included as part of a neurosurgical residency. Applicants with backgrounds in neurosurgery, neuroradiology, or neurology are invited to apply, with operative neurosurgical training during the fellowship limited to neurosurgical applicants. Interested applicants can download this application form with instructions on how to apply.

For additional information about the Surgical and Interventional Approaches to Pediatric Cerebrovascular Disease Fellowship, including application forms and instructions, please email our education coordinator at NeurosurgeryEducation@childrens.harvard.edu.

In conjunction with Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s offers a fully integrated, seven-year residency program for physicians embarking upon careers as clinical neurosurgeons and neurosurgical researchers. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; interviews are conducted in October, November, and December, and the program admits two residents each year.

All residency program applicants must:

• be a graduate of an accredited U.S. medical school or, if an international medical graduate (IMG), be certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)
• complete an application through either the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Electronic Residency Application Service or the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP)

Learn more about the residency program and view a sample curriculum.

For more information, please contact:

Courtney E. Gilligan
Education Program Manager
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Department of Neurosurgery
75 Francis St.
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617-732-8719
Fax: 617-713-3050
cegilligan@bwh.harvard.edu

For international physicians who are interested in observing our physicians, please contact our Observership Program Office at observership.program@childrens.harvard.edu. You can submit an online application here.