Accreditation

The Neurosurgery Spine Fellowship program is accredited by the Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training of The Society of Neurological Surgeons as of May 2014.

Certification

After successfully completing the program, you receive a certification of completion in neurosurgery spine training from the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education.

Program history

The Neurosurgery Spine Fellowship began in 2014, and the fellowship is offered to one to two trainees each year to ensure that the fellow obtains comprehensive training in all aspects of spinal neurosurgery. Mayo has a long history of neurosurgical education dating back almost 100 years. More than 500 residents and fellows have completed neurosurgical training with the Department of Neurologic Surgery.

Positions

Two fellowship positions are available each year: one for an external candidate and one for a Mayo Clinic PGY-7 neurosurgery resident completing an enfolded fellowship. Both positions are awarded on a competitive basis.

Qualifications

Applicants for the Neurosurgery Spine Fellowship program must have completed an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education seven-year neurologic surgery program.

Internal candidates (Mayo Clinic PGY-7 resident):

1. Residents who are in good academic standing are eligible to complete the fellowship after the completion of their chief resident year.
2. Successful completion of the American Board of Neurological Surgery written board examination with a score of 70 percent or better.
3. Demonstrated interest in spinal neurosurgery, including academic achievement in spine.

External candidates:

1. Must have completed an ACGME accredited residency program.
2. Good academic standing as stated in a letter from the applicant's residency program director.
3. Perceived to be a future leader in spinal neurosurgery.

Also see general admissions requirements.

How to apply

The academic year begins July 1. External candidates will begin July 8.

The application and all supporting documentation must be submitted by Feb. 1, two years prior to the fellowship start date.

You must apply through Recruit, a third-party application service. 

Complete the following steps to apply through Recruit:

1. Create an account to begin the online Application for Admission
2. All applications to Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education programs must include these application materials
3. After submission, view the required Supplemental Items and Documents

• Upload each required item in the Supplemental Items section (if applicable)
• Complete the Recommendation Request section (if applicable)

Applicants considered for an appointment will be invited for a personal interview with the program director and selected faculty. Interviews are typically conducted between April-June.

The Neurosurgery Spine Fellowship will provide academic, clinical and research training with a wide spectrum of training, including trauma, deformity, degenerative disease, and oncology. It is our expectation that graduates from this program will be fully trained in a breadth of neurosurgical spine conditions. 

You will rotate amongst our spine faculty throughout the year.

Dr. Clarke’s service:

• Spinal oncology
• Intradural spine tumor
• Primary tumor
• Degenerative spine disease

Dr. Elders’ service:

• Complex deformities
• Regenerative medicine
• Complex spine surgery

Dr. Fogelson’s service:

• Minimally invasive spine surgery
• Complex spine deformities

Dr. Krauss’ service:

• Degenerative spine disease
• Arthroplasty

Dr. Mikula’s service:

• Deformity
• Spine oncology

Didactic training

Didactics play an important role in your fellowship training. You will be required to attend conferences related to neurosurgery/orthopedic spine. Fellows will organize the weekly joint Neurosurgery/Orthopedic Spine Conference.

Electives

Clinical rotations follow the clinical neurosurgery rotation format scheduling. Research electives will involve a mentored research project. Internal fellows will still be required to take chief call. While no call is required of an external fellow, you will still be required to participate in related educational activities.

Elective rotations may be clinical or research-based. All research electives will be supervised by the program director with input from other physicians, depending on project scope.

Conferences

Fellows will participate in the following conferences:

• Weekly Joint Neurosurgery/Orthopedic Spine Conference
• Weekly Multidisciplinary Oncology Conference
• Weekly Case Conference
• Monthly Morbidity and Mortality Conference
• Monthly Spine Trauma Conference
• Monthly Journal Club

Procedures

Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training procedural requires 150 cases total across the seven categories:

• Craniovertebral junction
• Subaxial cervical
• Thoracic
• Lumbosacral
• Spinal trauma
• Deformity
• Spinal oncology

Over the last five years, graduates of the Neurosurgery Spine Fellowship have averaged completion of 250 operative procedures.

You are involved in ongoing research projects based on your interest and background to further academic training as well as clinical abilities. These projects are tailored to your future interests and designed to enhance the recruitment of patients to your practice in the future. Two manuscripts are required to be prepared for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.

You have the opportunity to present at grand rounds, clinical case conferences, and national meetings. The program employs the mentorship model and expects fellows to participate in resident teaching and mentoring.

Call frequency

Internal enfolded applicants will continue to take chief call. External candidates are not required to take call.

Moonlighting

Moonlighting is not allowed during your fellowship.

Mentorship

You will rotate amongst our spine staff where you will have the opportunity for one-on-one mentorship with individual faculty members. The program director will also provide constant oversight and will review topics like job opportunities, practice building, establishing research opportunities, and obtaining grant funding, along with clinical teaching and training.

Evaluation

To ensure that you acquire adequate knowledge and develop the appropriate technical skills to meet program expectations, your performance is monitored carefully during the program. You are evaluated formally by the supervising faculty member after each clinical rotation, and you will meet with the program director to review these evaluations. In addition, you will also regularly evaluate the faculty to ensure that your educational needs are being met.

All training will take place at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Our facilities include state-of-the-art operating rooms, including an intraoperative MRI suite, multidisciplinary clinics, and world-class dissection labs.

The Department of Neurosurgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is one of the largest and most highly regarded in the U.S. Each year, the entire spectrum of neurosurgical conditions and diseases is treated essentially at one site, which ensures an unparalleled training experience. The department performs approximately 5,000 neurosurgical procedures each year.

This caseload includes more than 1,500 spinal procedures each year. The entire spectrum of neurosurgical spine disorders, ranging from straightforward to complex, is treated at our site in a multidisciplinary fashion. This allows fellows to not only develop clinical and technical proficiency but also provides an opportunity to develop the necessary skills to develop multidisciplinary programs in their own practice after completion of the fellowship.

We have five core faculty who are highly regarded figures in spinal neurosurgery as master clinicians, educators, and researchers. Their expertise encompasses all aspects of spinal neurosurgery, and their commitment to training and mentorship is unparalleled. As a group, they hold multiple highly coveted research grants, are PIs on cutting-edge clinical trials, and hold leadership positions in organized neurosurgery.

	Michelle Clarke, M.D., Ph.D. Program Director Professor of Neurologic and Orthopedic Surgery Dr. Clarke received a BSE in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University and an M.D. from Georgetown University. She completed her residency in neurological surgery at Mayo Clinic and a fellowship in complex spine surgery at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Clarke specializes in complex spine surgery and spinal oncology. Her clinical practice includes primary and metastatic spine tumors, spinal cord tumors, spinal vascular lesions, complex spinal reconstruction, and other degenerative spinal disorders. She emphasizes helping patients understand their conditions and determine the most appropriate course of treatment, including referral for nonsurgical management when appropriate. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Clarke is an internationally recognized researcher and is deeply involved in medical education. Her academic interests include spine surgery, spinal oncology, surgical education, competency-based assessment, and bioethics. View full profile
	Benjamin Elder, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, and Biomedical Engineering Dr. Elder serves as consultant, chair of research, and associate residency program director in the Department of Neurological Surgery, with a joint appointment in physiology and biomedical engineering. A graduate of Yale University, Rice University, and Baylor College of Medicine’s combined M.D./Ph.D. program, Dr. Elder completed his neurosurgery residency and advanced spine fellowships at Johns Hopkins University. His clinical expertise centers on adult spinal deformity, complex spine surgery, and idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus, while his research focuses on bone health optimization, spinal biomechanics, and tissue engineering approaches to spinal degeneration. Dr. Elder has authored more than 260 peer-reviewed publications, delivered over 120 invited lectures worldwide, and serves on multiple editorial boards and national leadership committees. Recognized for excellence in clinical care, research, and education, he has received numerous honors, including the 2025 Top Spine Abstract Award from the American Academy of Neurological Surgeons, and was inducted into the prestigious American Academy of Neurological Surgery and the Society of Neurological Surgeons. View full profile
	Jeremy Fogelson, M.D. Professor of Neurosurgery Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery View full profile
	William Krauss, M.D. Professor of Neurological Surgery Dr. Krauss received a BA in biology from Harvard College. He received an M.D. from Columbia University. He did his residency in neurological surgery at the Neurological Institute of New York and a fellowship in complex spine surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He is a member of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery, and the Society or Neurological Surgeons. Since 1993, he has been a consultant in the Department of Neurological Surgery. He specializes in complex spine surgery, spine trauma, spinal cord tumors, craniocervical disorders, image guided spine surgery, and degenerative spinal disorders. His clinical research involves those areas as well as developing AI tools for clinical practice In addition, he is actively involved in several projects investigating outcomes in spine trauma, spinal oncology, and degenerative spinal disorders. He was the residency program director and the clinical practice chair for the department and the enterprise.  View full profile
	Anthony Mikula, M.D. Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery Dr. Mikula is a fellowship-trained spine neurosurgeon specializing in spinal deformity, cervical deformity, and spine tumor surgery. During his neurosurgery residency at Mayo Clinic, he completed fellowships in complex spine surgery, spinal deformity, and spinal oncology at Mayo Clinic and MD Anderson Cancer Center. He then completed a post-residency fellowship in spinal deformity and spine tumor surgery at the University of California San Francisco. He treats adult spinal deformity, including cervical deformity, scoliosis, flat back deformity, dropped head syndrome, kyphosis, and revision spine surgery. He also treats primary and metastatic tumors of the spine and spinal column, including ependymoma, astrocytoma, chordoma, and sarcoma. His research focuses on spine outcomes with the main objective of improving the ability to provide a durable surgical solution for patients that maximizes their function and quality of life while avoiding complications. He actively publishes his work in addition to presenting at meetings and participating in multicenter research groups on a national and international basis.   View full profile