University of Maryland Program

Program Identity & Fit

University of Maryland's neurosurgery residency is an academic, trauma-intensive program anchored by the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, a nationally recognized trauma referral hub, supplemented by rotations at the Baltimore VA, a private-practice-style solo-resident experience at GBMC, and a pediatric neurosurgery partnership with Johns Hopkins. The program is small (two residents per year, 14 total) and structures its final year as a self-designed "APEX" pathway allowing residents to pursue clinical operations, education, or dedicated research/advanced-degree tracks, reflecting a career orientation that expects graduates to pursue subspecialty fellowship training (spine, endovascular, complex trauma) before independent or academic practice. Research is built into the structure rather than optional: interns must produce a first-author scholarly product, up to 1.5 years of elective/protected research time is available, and departmental labs plus NIH-affiliated opportunities support resident scholarship. The program emphasizes procedural volume in trauma and spine, mentorship beginning in PGY-1, and graduated autonomy (e.g., VA chief residents independently booking and following patients), signaling that it values residents who are self-directed in shaping their own subspecialty and academic trajectory.