Vascular Neurology Fellowship Program

Program Director: Setareh Salehi Omran, MD

Associate Program Director: Sharon Poisson, MD

The University of Colorado Vascular Neurology Fellowship is an ACGME accredited, multidisciplinary program led by the Department of Neurology, but with active participation from Neurocritical Care, Neurosurgery, Neuroradiology, Interventional Radiology, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. The one-year program provides training in all aspects of diagnosis, treatment, and management for cerebrovascular diseases from acute onset through rehabilitation to long-term risk management. A pediatric track for this program is also available. An optional one-year of post-doctoral research training is available through the StrokeNet program, which includes the option for formal classwork in patient-oriented research. 

The Vascular Fellowship at the University of Colorado has trained both adult and pediatric fellows and encourages candidates to apply who are interested in continuing their education in both fields. For those who choose to add a pediatric track of the fellowship, elective rotations will be completed at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Training methods include hands-on patient care in the Emergency Department, Inpatient and Outpatient settings, and by telemedicine in outside EDs and in the Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit. Vascular Neurology fellows spend their clinical service weeks on both the inpatient stroke service and consult service. As a result, fellows work closely with all clinicians within our Division of Vascular Neurology/Neurohospitalist, which consists of more than 15 attending physicians (nearly half of which are vascular neurology-trained subspecialists). The inpatient portion takes place at the University of Colorado Hospital (UCH), the main teaching hospital of the University of Colorado. UCH is consistently ranked as the top hospital in Colorado. In addition to taking care of patients that live in the hospital’s proximity in Aurora, UCH is the region’s only academic center and a main regional referral center. The facilities include a dedicated neurology floor, a 24-bed Neuro-ICU staffed with fellowship-trained neurocritical care specialists, nursing staff with experience in stroke, and 24-hour in-house neurology residents and advanced practice providers. UCH is a Joint Commission-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center and a Level 1 Trauma center.

Our educational curriculum is geared towards fellow-level training. Didactic sessions for Vascular Neurology Fellows include: 1) weekly didactic sessions covering cerebrovascular disease and inpatient neurohospitalist topics; 2) monthly multidisciplinary neurovascular case conference; 3) monthly stroke case conference with neuroradiology and residency program; 4) journal club sessions. By providing both formal didactic sessions and case conferences, our program allows fellows multiple opportunities to advance their understanding and apply their knowledge of cerebrovascular diseases. Clinicians within the Division of Vascular Neurology/Neurohospitalist hold formal education roles in the medical school, adult neurology residency program, and vascular neurology fellowship and have received local and national recognition for their dedication to medical education. 

Vascular Neurology Fellows are expected to participate in ongoing clinical cerebrovascular trials active at the UCH or affiliated institutions and are encouraged to develop their own research projects with faculty providing mentorship for grant development and implementation. Research skill training in clinical or basic science is available, including epidemiology, research design and analysis, and clinical trial methodology. UCH is part of the StrokeNet network through The Southwestern Stroke Alliance Regional Coordinating Center.