UA Receives Approval to Train Neurosurgeons

A residency review committee from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) approved a Residency Program in Neurological Surgery, effective June 27. The six-year program will participate in the National Residency Matching Program and is slated to accept its first student July 1, 2004. The program will continue to accept one student per year.

The Section of Neurosurgery had been taking active steps to establish the program for more than 10 years, says Martin Weinand, MD, associate chief of the Section of Neurosurgery and the residency program director. To meet the criteria for approval, the proposed program must demonstrate capable faculty, a broad spectrum of clinical cases, and a significant level of institutional support. The arduous application process is followed by an on-site visit by ACGME representatives.

"This has been a major effort to ensure that the University of Arizona meets all the rigorous criteria to qualify for training neurosurgeons in the United States. It is a great honor and a huge responsibility that we welcome," says Allan J. Hamilton, MD, chairman of the UA Department of Surgery, and chief of the Section of Neurosurgery.

Currently there are four other ACGME-accredited residency programs in the UA Department of Surgery: General Surgery, Urology, Vascular Surgery and Cardiothoracic Surgery. Including the new neurosurgery program, the UA College of Medicine sponsors 22 ACGME-accredited residency programs.

"This residency program will enhance all of the other residency training programs in the Department of Surgery. Our focus will be on producing top-notch neurosurgery physicians," Dr. Weinand says.

The ACGME awards accreditation for the nation's residency programs, in which doctors spend years of intense preparation in a specialty.

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