Hometown: Columbus, Ohio

Medical school: The Ohio State University College of Medicine

Residency: San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium, San Antonio, TX

The Orthopedic Surgery of the Spine Fellowship at Mayo Clinic provides robust training for a well-rounded spine surgeon equipped with an armamentarium to face a variety of spinal pathology. The fellowship accomplishes that through a training model that allows for an ideal balance of graduated surgical autonomy and educators who provide a breadth of expertise and experience. Mayo Clinic has provided me with plenty of opportunities and resources to cultivate my research interests. Lastly, as I am confident that I will enter practice with the highest quality of training, I know that this fellowship provides unique avenues for continued mentorship after graduation for guidance in my clinical practice and professional career.

Hometown: Macon, Georgia

Medical School: Medical College of Georgia

Residency: Carolinas Medical Center/OrthoCarolina, Charlotte, NC

Mayo Clinic's Spine Fellowship checked every box for me for what I wanted in training. The faculty are all outstanding educators, people who value teaching proper indications and surgical technique. The case volume and variety is amazing, with the program offering both bread-and-butter degenerative cases all the way to very complex deformities and revisions. MIS, Open, Navigation, Robotics, Endoscopy, and all approaches to the spine are also here, which is invaluable for a fellow. Surgical graduated autonomy is excellent, and you will quickly become comfortable operating efficiently in all areas of the spine. You will continuously be pushed and challenged here in a positive and beneficial way, with the confidence and skills to start your career in either academics or private practice. I feel very fortunate to be able to train here and if I had to choose all over again, I would still choose Mayo Clinic.

Medical school: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Residency: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Why did you choose Mayo Clinic? At Mayo Clinic there is an unparalleled ability to collaborate with physicians of the highest quality. This excellence extends not only into the orthopedic department and the spine department but into all specialties. Being able to train at a place where collaboration and mentorship can come from the highest level has been invaluable.

What stood out to you about this program? The Orthopedic Surgery of the Spine Fellowship combined the personalized training of a mentorship model with the ability to float to multiple surgeons for most of the year. The diversity of case experience is extremely broad including everything from bread-and-butter degenerative spine surgery to the highest of complexity cases including revision and deformity spine surgery. We learned techniques including freehand pedicle screw placement, minimally invasive techniques, occipital to pelvis instrumentation, osteotomies, and used advanced technology like navigation as appropriate.  In all of these, the expectation is for a high level of surgical autonomy from the fellow, even at the beginning of the fellowship year. This was a great operative experience, and I cannot recommend it highly enough to others considering the program!

Medical school: Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Residency: Harvard Combined Orthopedic Residency Program

Why did you choose Mayo Clinic? When I interviewed here, I felt at home. I thought the reputation of the hospital would make it feel pretentious and stuffy, but I was pleasantly surprised that it is quite the opposite. The people here are warm, approachable, and inviting. The excellence in quality of care is evident, but beneath that is a comfortable environment for learning.

What stood out to you about this program? The Orthopedic Surgery of the Spine Fellowship has breadth and depth. The cases vary from common procedures to cases that are highly complex and exciting. There is a lot of work to do, so you get a deep exposure to both routine indications and cutting-edge procedures. Each consultant approaches the problem in a slightly different way, and yet they all work together in harmony. That variety allows for learning a diverse set of skills. Furthermore, the program has aspects of both a mentorship model as well as a float learning style.