Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical Center Program

Program Identity & Fit

Penn State Hershey's Neurosurgery Residency is a seven-year, three-resident-per-year academic program built around a single tertiary/quaternary referral center, with three named clinical services (Harbaugh/vascular-neurocritical care, Page/complex spine-skull base-functional, Johnson/pediatric) that structure exposure across the full breadth of subspecialty neurosurgery, including endovascular, functional/epilepsy, skull base, peripheral nerve, and complex spine work at high annual case volume. Research is deeply embedded rather than optional: residents must complete a dedicated research year plus annual manuscripts from PGY-2 through PGY-7, supported by eight full-time PhD research faculty, over $8 million in active grants, a large clinical trials infrastructure, and formal biostatistics/trial-design training. The program offers six CAST-accredited enfolded fellowships (endovascular, functional, neurocritical care, neuro-oncology, peripheral nerve, spine), signaling that it trains residents toward subspecialized academic or complex-practice careers rather than general community neurosurgery, while an optional international elective (Perth, Australia) and a community-hospital rotation add some breadth outside the quaternary core. The program explicitly values scholarly productivity, competitiveness for academic opportunities, and active participation in national neurosurgical societies.