The membership of the North American Skull Base Society (NASBS) is a tremendous resource for the training of fellows, who are the future of the development of our specialty. The society has developed a registry of skull base fellowships that are offered by the society membership.
The society recognizes that we are a diverse and multidisciplinary group comprised of several different specialties, all of whom have significant interest and focus in the management of skull base neoplasia. Likewise, the nature and character of the various fellowships will represent and reflect their differences. In addition, we recognize that there will be variation between individual fellowship experiences resulting from the differences in the preceptor’s approaches and practices.
To post a Fellowship, please go to the Fellowship Registry Entry Form. You must be a member of NASBS to add a Fellowship to the Registry.
To edit an entry, please log in under the Member credentials used to add the entry to the registry and make edits to the listing.
To apply for Fellowship training, please contact the program directly.
If you need assistance or have questions, please contact the NASBS office at [email protected].
| Title of Fellowship | Skull Base Fellowship |
|---|---|
| Contact Name for Applications | Stephanie Hood |
| Fellowship Type |
|
| Location | Houston, Texas |
| Date Fellowship Established | 07/01/2012 |
| Fellowship Director | Shaan M. Raza |
| Participating Faculty | Neurosurgery: Shaan Raza, MD; Franco DeMonte, MD |
Fellowship Information | |
| Duration | 12 months |
| Required Prior Training Program |
|
| Required Prior Training Program Other | To be considered for this program, all candidates must have completed their training program and be board eligible or certified in neurosurgery or with the approval of their program director be in the last year of their neurosurgical training in an approved program. The candidate for the second year is one who expresses an interest, typically by the midpoint of the first year in the fellowship, and who the department faculty agrees has performed in an exemplary fashion during the first year. The candidate usually wishes to pursue a career in academic medicine with an interest in neurosurgical oncology. |
| Fellow needs to have full medical license | Yes |
| Accept Foreign Medical Graduates (outside US & Canada) | Yes |
| Foreign Medical Graduates Eligibility Requirements | Graduates of foreign medical schools must have an ECFMG certificate to participate in accredited GME in the United States. ECFMG certification provides an assurance to residency programs that international medical graduates have met the minimum standards, including proficiency in English, required to enter such programs. |
| Residency Training in US/Canada Required | No |
| USMLE |
|
| Percentage of Fellow Workload that is Skull Base | 100% |
| Number of Fellows Accepted Per Year | 1 |
| Salaried Position | Yes- contact Program Director for more information |
| Night and Weekend Call | Yes |
| Estimated Nights Per Month | Back-Up Call 4 – 5 Nights/Month |
| Clinical Work | |
| Average Operative Skull Base Cases Per Year | 330 |
| Open Cranial Base | |
| Anterior | 44 |
| Anterolateral/Infratemporal | 69 |
| Lateral (temporal bone) | 30 |
| Posterior | 43 |
| Endonasal Cranial Base | |
| Pituitary/Sella | 65 |
| Sagittal Plane (excluding pituitary) | 46 |
| Transpterygoid/ Coronal Plane | 20 |
| Temporal Bone | |
| Transtemporal/ Transcochlear | Other |
| Middle fossa | Data not available |
| Retrosigmoid | Data not available |
| Craniofacial Anomalies/ Reconstructive | |
| Craniofacial Anomalies/ Reconstructive | Data not available |
| Trauma | |
| Craniocervical | |
| Transcervical | 13 |
| Transoral | Data not available |
| Endonasal | Data not available |
| Reconstruction | |
| Cranioplasty | Data not available |
| Regional, Pedicled Flap Repair | 80 |
| Free Flap Repair | 30-40 |
| Stereotactic Radiosurgery | |
| Gammaknife | 20 |
| Cyberknife | Data not available |
| Cerebral Vascular Surgery | |
| Cyberknife | Data not available |
| Transcranial | Data not available |
| Endovascular | Data not available |
| Anatomical Dissection Laboratory | The skull base program has a cadaver lab that is equipped for microsurgical and endoscopic dissection with up-to-date instrumentation and laboratory technician support. The laboratory is also designed to support cadaver courses for larger courses. The fellow will have access to the laboratory and will be expected to refine their understanding of skullbase approaches through regular practice in the lab. In addition to the cadaver lab, the program also has an augmented/virtual reality training platform for preoperative review of cases; this technology is incorporated into a weekly surgical training conference for the fellows and residents. |
| Laboratory Research Opportunities | There are expectations that the fellow will get involved in either clinical or translational research during the course of their fellowship. The skull base program has active research programs focused on the major malignant and benign disease types. At the start of the year, the fellow, in consultation with the faculty, will design several key research projects that the fellow will be expected to lead. To support the clinical research efforts of the program, there are research fellows, clinical research nurses, statisticians and editorial support. Clinical research projects are supported via a prospectively collected clinical and institutional databases. As part of larger efforts, the skull base programs also has a tissue pipeline with fresh frozen tissue to support translational research projects. For individuals interested in further developing their translational research skills, a second year focused purely on research is an option. |
| Application Deadline | 02/01/2023 |
| Decision Deadline | 09/01/2023 |
| Fellowship Institution Website | mdanderson.org |
| Previous Fellows | FY 2012-2013 Betty Y.S. Kim, M.D., Ph.D., FY 2013-2014 Shaan M. Raza, M.D., FY 2014-2015 Vincent DiNapoli, M.D., Ph.D., FY 2015-2016 Peleg Horowitz, M.D., Ph.D., FY 2016-2017 Jacob Freeman, M.D., FY 2017-2018 Gautam Mehta, M.D., FY 2018-2019 Jonathan Breshears, M.D., FY 2019-2020 Idara Edem, M.D., FY 2020-2021 Joel Passer, M.D., FY 2021-2022 Solon Schur, M.D., FY 2022-2023 Bledi Brahimaj, M.D. |
| Additional Features of the Fellowship | Included within the fellowship is the following: |
| Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training (CAST) Accredited | Yes |
| How to apply | https://www.mdanderson.org/education-training/clinical-research-training/graduate-medical-education/residencies-fellowships/neurosurgical-oncology.html |