Information for Medical Students

Neurosurgery Sub-Internship at the University of Colorado

The University of Colorado Department of Neurosurgery is happy to welcome both home and visiting medical students to rotate as subinterns. The subinternship is a 4-week rotation spent between University of Colorado Anschutz Hospital (3 weeks) and Children’s Hospital Colorado (1 week), which are both located on the Anschutz campus in Aurora, CO, on the eastern border of Denver.

We aim to expose our subinterns to the specifics of our program and to allow them to experience of the life of neurosurgery residents. Subinterns spend the majority of their time in the operating room but are encouraged to intermittently join our residents and attendings in the clinic and in the neurologic intensive care unit. The one month rotation is divided into 1 week blocks to ensure students are exposed to our tumor, spine, vascular, functional and pediatric neurosurgery services. Subinterns are included in morning rounds as well as our weekly didactic sessions including grand rounds, cadaver labs, and resident-lead education sessions designed specifically for subinterns. Students are expected to give a short presentation during Grand Rounds highlighting research experiences, interesting cases, or a specific area of interest within neurosurgery. Additionally, each month residents plan a dinner with the subinterns at a Denver restaurant in order to get a chance to get to know each other better.

Subinternship participants are typically medical students interested in pursuing a career in neurosurgery who are planning to apply to neurosurgery residency. A letter of recommendation from the chair is typically provided at the completion of a month on our service. Overall, our goal is to include students in every facet of our neurosurgery residents’ lives. We hope subinterns get to know our program well and vice versa in order to allow us to assist you in your first steps a successful career in neurosurgery.

Applications must be completed through the Visiting Student Learning Opportunity (VSLO), but please contact our department with any questions or concerns by emailing Erica Scholl at erica.scholl@cuanschutz.edu. Please note, if dates listed in VSLO do not align 100% with your home institution during the specific block, please reach out and we will find a solution.

Are you a medical or graduate student interested in research?

The faculty in our department welcome medical or graduate student involvement in their clinical research projects. These projects may range from clinical research, such as chart reviews, to longer term projects involving clinical or basic science data analysis and experiments.

Expectations:
These projects require a time commitment, usually of two to six months, or more.   Please review the time commitments and skillsets needed below before contacting the faculty listed.  

Are you interested in spending a research year with us?  First, familiarize yourself with our faculty members and their current research and clinical interests.  Next, we ask that you contact the faculty member whose clinical and research interests most closely align with your goals. Please include your current CV, research year goals and any other pertinent experience you have.  Research years may either be unfunded or funded (depending on the type of research being conducted).  Individuals completing a full year of research with our department will receive a certificate of completion. 

Current Projects 

*UCHealth and CHCO EPIC and facility access is provided via the department.  Once you have selected a project and/or faculty member to work with, please reach out to either Jen Maitlen (adult research) or Susan Staulcup (pediatric research).  They will facilitate your EPIC and facility access.

• Jennifer.Maitlen@cuanschutz.edu (adult research)
• Susan.Staulcup@cuanschutz.edu (pediatric research)

Prerequisites & Helpful Links: 

• Human Subjects Training
• Conflict of Interest Disclosure
• UCHealth EPIC access*
• CHCO EPIC access*
• Redcap

(Facility access)*