Mayo Clinic offers a premier one-year Peripheral Nerve Surgery Fellowship at its campus in Rochester, Minnesota. This program is one of a few of its kind in the country and offers trainees the rare opportunity to specialize in a growing area of neurosurgery and reconstructive surgery.

Mayo Clinic has established a large national and international referral base for complex peripheral nerve problems such as entrapments, injuries, tumors, and neuropathies. In addition, it has developed one of the country's busiest multidisciplinary brachial plexus surgery practices.

The goals of the Peripheral Nerve Surgery Fellowship are to:

• Develop a program of regular reading of the peripheral nerve surgery literature (for example: neurosurgery, hand surgery, plastic surgery, neuroscience)
• Learn about rehabilitation and psychosocial management of patients with peripheral nerve disorders
• Develop clinical competence in the evaluation, diagnostic work-up, and therapy of diseases of the peripheral nervous system and effects of other systemic disorders of the peripheral nervous system. You are in charge of daily work rounds, as well as supervision and teaching of other learners, including residents and medical students. Peripheral nerve disorders you see and treat include:
  • Compression syndromes
  • Metabolic and other neuropathies
  • Inflammatory lesions
  • Nerve injuries
  • Brachial plexus injuries
  • Tumors (benign, malignant, and nonsyndromic)
  • Pain (neuropathic and sympathetically mediated)
• Demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities, adherence to ethical principles, and sensitivity to a diverse patient population

Following completion of this training program, fellows will be trained in all aspects of peripheral nerve treatment.

Fellows adhere to the same Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and institutional requirements as neurosurgery residents and are required to respect work-hour limitations with electronic tracking.

Accreditation

The Peripheral Nerve Surgery Fellowship is accredited by the Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training of The Society of Neurological Surgeons and underwent reaccreditation in 2020.

Program history

The formal Peripheral Nerve Surgery Fellowship at Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota, was established in 2009 and accepted its first trainee that year. It is anticipated that one fellow will complete training in this fellowship each year.

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