Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals Program

Program Identity & Fit

MCW's Neurological Surgery Residency is a seven-year academic program training residents across three distinct clinical environments—Froedtert Hospital (adult tertiary/quaternary neurosurgery), Children's Wisconsin (pediatric neurosurgery), and the Zablocki VA Medical Center (where residents assume Chief Resident responsibility on the VA service as early as PGY3-4). The program structures a dedicated PGY5 year fully devoted to basic and clinical research within the department's Neurotrauma, Cervical Myelopathy, and Neuroscience Research Centers, reflecting a substantial institutional investment in neurotrauma biomechanics, TBI/concussion science, spinal cord injury, and translational imaging. Progressive graduated autonomy is emphasized, with residents functioning as service chiefs at the VA and later as Chief Residents at Froedtert and Children's Wisconsin, and the program explicitly states graduates leave with "research and teaching credentials" suited to both academic and private practice. The department's identity is anchored in neurotrauma and biomechanics research infrastructure (crash/blast test facilities, dedicated laboratories) rather than a single subspecialty clinical niche.