This one year ACGME accredited program follows the program requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine. One fellow will be trained for all spinal diseases and conditions of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine: both degenerative and deformity; trauma and tumor; pediatric and adult. Individuals completing the fellowship will be well-suited for either a career in academics or in private practice.
New ACGME Accredited Spine Fellowship
Date: August 1, 2016 - July 31, 2017
Location: MedStar Union Memorial Hospital
3333, N.Calvert Street, Suite 400
Baltimore, MD 21218
Program Director: Dr. P.Justin Tortolani
Salary: $64,000
This fellowship will have an intellectual environment for acquiring the knowledge, skills, clinical judgment, and attitudes essential to practice spine surgery. The Spine Fellowship program director P. Justin Tortolani has 12 years experience in the field of Spine Surgery, Co-Director of Spine Service for MedStar Orthopaedics, Paul Asdourian 28 years, attending Mesfin Lemma 12 years and the Chief of Neurosurgery Zeena Dorai 11 years. All are fully committed to this educational program.
Clinical and basic science research projects the fellow is encouraged to participate and complete at least two projects/papers. Surgical, out-patient and in-hospital care of the spinal patient is stressed; this fellowship is exclusively spine.
The aspects that will be covered include cervical thoracic, and lumbar spine disease, deformity of the spine, cervical, thoracic, and lumbar degenerative disease, cervical, thoracic, and lumbar tumors of the spine, fractures of the spine
cervical, thoracic, and lumbar infections of the spine ,anterior and posterior approaches to the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spine ,anterior and posterior segmental instrumentation, and several forms of segmental fixation (screws, hooks and wires)
Drs. P. Justin Tortolani, Paul Asdourian, and Mesfin Lemma spine attending physicians, perform approximately 600 cases per year. The overall case load profile is 24% deformity, 75% degenerative, and 1% tumor/fracture. 94%of cases are cervical, while 6% are thoracic/lumbar in nature. Age distribution equates to 99% adult and 1% pediatric.
The four attending physicians rotation will be grouped by Asdourian/Dorai and Tortolani/Murray, two three month rotations plus every Friday the fellow will rotate on research. There are two PGY 5 residents who will rotate for three months each on the Spine service.
There is no in-house call or moonlighting. It is anticipated that the fellow will attend one or two meetings a year, typically the Scoliosis Research Society, the Cervical Spine Research Society or the North American Spine Society annual meeting.
This fellowship is ACGME accredited.
This fellowship participates in the San Francisco match program.
