Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a new and accepted therapy for patients with severe essential tremor, advanced Parkinson's disease, and dystonia. Brain stimulation and other neuromodulatory surgical treatments also will likely emerge as treatments for other indications, such as intractable tic disorders, treatment-resistant epilepsy, and treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders.

Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota, has an extremely active DBS practice, with nearly 100 procedures performed each year.

The goals of Mayo Clinic's one- or two-year Deep Brain Stimulation Fellowship are to:

• Produce neurologists or neurosurgeons who are highly qualified in deep brain stimulation and can identify candidates for DBS treatment
• Train neurologists or neurosurgeons in the intraoperative physiology that helps guide stimulator placement
• Train neurologists or neurosurgeons to manage patients' brain stimulators postoperatively so that they can assume the long-term care of these patients
• Encourage the fellow to engage in the academic practice of deep brain stimulation by active participation in research

Program history

The Deep Brain Stimulation Fellowship at Mayo Clinic accepted its first fellow to begin the program in 2009. Going forward, it is anticipated that one fellow will complete this program annually.