Fellowship Programs

This is a 24-month-long fellowship open to neurologists, neurosurgeons, and neuroradiologists. This fellowship is one of the first CAST-certified fellowships in the United States.

Post-graduate fellows are credentialed as attending physicians and function as an integral part of a multidisciplinary cerebrovascular team in a high-volume collaborative practice that provides neurointerventional services at Methodist University Hospital, Baptist Memorial Hospital, the Regional One Trauma Center, and Le Bonheur Children's Hospital.

Fellows gain expertise in all aspects of Interventional neuroradiology, including diagnostic cerebral and spinal angiography and a range of vascular interventions, including treatment of acute ischemic stroke, sharp and blunt cerebrovascular trauma, epistaxis, cerebral aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations of the brain and spine and congenital cerebral and spinal malformations.

This expertise includes the management of patients with neurovascular disease, the performance of cerebrovascular and endovascular neurosurgery procedures, and the integration of cerebrovascular and endovascular neurosurgery therapy into the clinical management of patients. Academic research is emphasized with multiple ongoing pre-clinical and clinical projects.

Applicants

2026 positions are complete, and we are looking at only 2027 positions at this time.

The Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery, the Cerebrovascular Section of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and the Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology have collaborated to initiate a Fellowship Match process for training in Neurointervention.

The application process will occur via the Electronic Resident Application Service (ERAS), and the Match will be administered by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). The goal is to provide a unified approach for interested applicants to find training, as well as to streamline the application process for Fellowship Programs.

Candidates for the 2027-2028 Academic Year will be able to apply exclusively on ERAS beginning in June 2025 and will Match through the NRMP in May 2026.

Faculty

Adam Arthur MD MPH
Professor and Chair, Department of Neurosurgery

Dan Hoit, MD, MPH
Program Director and Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

Lucas Elijovich, MD
Associate Professor, Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Nitin Goyal, MD
Associate Professor, Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Violiza Inoa, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology

Nick Khan, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

David Morris, MD
Mid-South Imaging and Therapeutics

Christopher Nickele, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

The objective of this 12-month program is to train fellows to function competently as complex spine surgeons in either academic or clinical settings.

The fellowship is divided into two rotations—clinical and research. The clinical rotation provides training in the management of degenerative spinal disorders, as well as traumatic, neoplastic, and congenital conditions. Fellows are involved in all elements of patient care, including diagnosis, non-operative management, operative treatment, and follow-up; approximately 70% of the fellow's time is spent in surgery and 30% in non-operative care. Surgical experience is provided in a range of settings, including a university medical center, a community hospital, and a private practice ambulatory surgery center.

During the research rotation, fellows are expected to participate in at least two basic science or clinical research projects. Fellows are involved in all aspects of research, including literature review, project development, data collection, and data analysis. Fellows are encouraged to develop their own projects, but can also participate in existing projects sponsored by faculty supervisors. Fellows are expected to produce at least one publishable paper (e.g., book chapter, peer-reviewed journal article) by the end of the fellowship year.

In addition to their rotations, fellows are expected to attend educational conferences. Opportunities are also available to practice surgical skills in cadaver labs and to participate in technique courses offered in the medical center area. Funds are provided for attendance at one national professional meeting.

Applicants

To apply for a fellowship position, interested candidates should send the following to Jacque Peterson, MA at jpeterson@semmes-murphey.com: 1) an updated CV; 2) a cover letter, stating the fellowship year of interest and professional goals/career plans. In addition, three letters of reference should be sent to Ms. Peterson directly from their sources. Selected candidates will be invited to Memphis for interviews.

Faculty

Paul Park, MD
Program Director and Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

Kevin T. Foley, MD, FACS, FAANS
Professor, Department of Neurosurgery
Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery & Biomedical Engineering

Michael S. Muhlbauer, MD, FAANS
Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

The Pediatric Neurosurgery fellowship is a 12-month post-residency program during which fellows gain experience in pediatric neurosurgery clinical activities. Based on his/her level of experience, the fellow either leads the neurosurgical team or works as team members with faculty and senior-level residents from the neurosurgery residency program. The service is run by the fellow and one PGY-3 or PGY-4 resident from the UTHSC neurosurgery residency program. The fellow oversees the service; typically the fellow cares for the patients of 2 of the 4 faculty members while the resident cares for the patients of the other 2 faculty members. The resident and fellow then switch attending physician’s services every month, ensuring that each trainee obtains a balanced learning experience from all faculty members. In many instances the fellow and the resident perform surgery together while the faculty observes and teaches.

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center Pediatric Neurosurgery fellowship draws from the pediatric patient populations of Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

All pediatric neuro-oncology operations for St. Jude patients are performed at Le Bonheur. Referrals to St. Jude are regional, coming from across the mid-South and national and international. The strength of the program is the pediatric neuro-oncology program, although the program has a nationally ranked epilepsy and spine program. Additionally, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital is the only Level I pediatric trauma center in the region, drawing emergency referrals from a 5-state area.

The program has a dedicated 6-bed neuro-intensive care unit co-directed by Dr. Frederick Boop and one of the critical care intensivists, which serves as the clinical base for the pediatric neurosurgical fellow.

The fellowship’s parent program is the UTHSC Neurosurgery Residency Program. The program performs approximately 800 cases per year with 4 full-time faculty members.

Applicants

In order to apply to the program, applicants should contact Paul Klimo, Jr, MD, Chief, Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery (pklimo@semmes-murphey.com). Selected candidates will be invited to Memphis for interviews.

Faculty

Adam S. Arthur, MD, MPH
Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery

Paul Klimo, MD, FAANS
Chief, Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery,
Program Director and Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

Stephanie Einhaus, MD, FAANS
Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

Michael S. Muhlbauer, MD, FAANS
Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

Nir Shimony, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery