The PGY 1 year is designed to develop proficiency in the evaluation and management of adult and pediatric patients with neurosurgical problems. While the development of basic surgical and technical skills is an important component of the internship, the main focus is on developing the necessary knowledge base to facilitate excellent patient care. All rotations for this year are at the University Hospital.

PGY 1 residents rotate through a diverse set of assignments designed to provide the fundamentals of patient care for the field of neurological surgery.

PGY-1 Schedule

The PGY 2 year is divided between the University Hospital,  Veteran’s Administration Medical Center (VAMC) and the Carrie Tingley Children's Hospital (CTH). This year marks the formal beginning of orthopaedic training and the emphasis is on the development of basic orthopaedic skills including history and physical examination, fracture management, and basic surgical principles. The fundamentals of orthopaedic theory are taught with an emphasis on basic science while rotating on the upper extremity service.

The PGY 2 rotations are designed to provide an introduction to general adult and pediatric orthopaedic problems.

PGY-2 Schedule

The fourth year of training is our fully protected research year, or an enfolded fellowship experience in functional neurosurgery, the first year diagnostic endovascular fellowship, or a Neurocritical care fellowship (NCC). Advanced degrees may be pursued during the research year also and this year can be spent pursuing that degree outside of New Mexico, if necessary to fulfill the individual resident’s goals.

PGY-4 Schedule

Our 5th year residents spend their year focusing on spine surgery and general neurosurgery at our community site - Lovelace Medical Center, just five minutes away from our main campus. They will operate daily and work closely with faculty at Lovelace as the repetitive surgical cases prepares them to handle the diagnostic and technical demands of their chief year.

PGY-5 Schedule

During the “transition to practice” year, the chief resident is expected to assume the responsibility of running their own service, and evaluating patients pre-operatively, perioperatively, and post-operatively, including leading the surgical cases as primary surgeon. They will also teach junior residents and medical students as they lead daily rounds.  Most chief residents will have logged well over 500 surgical cases during this year and will be prepared to manage primary call as a neurosurgery attending, and run their own clinic,  by the end of this formative year. They will work closely with the chair, Dr. Schmidt, in a unique mentorship model for many of their cases and with their major decisions.

PGY-6 Schedule

 The Post-Residency Fellowship allows the resident to focus on subspecialty level training experience in one of our fellowship options, or an external fellowship experience. At the completion of this final year, they will begin their careers with a phenomenal clinical and research training behind them.

PGY-7 Schedule