The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) encourages its members to take an active interest in their continuing education. As the philanthropic arm of the AANS, the Neurosurgical Education & Research Foundation (NREF) is dedicated to providing extraordinary educational opportunities to neurosurgeons at all stages of their careers, to stimulate learning and enhance their careers.
Resident Education Courses
Advanced resident educational training is offered by the NREF in cooperation with the AANS. These free courses – made possible by valued individual and corporate supporters – provide residents and fellows specialized training in topic areas not always covered within neurosurgical residency.
Course participants are nominated by their institutions. Since 2006, over 2,000 residents have attended a Resident Education Course, and thousands more have viewed the presentations online. In 2019, the NREF sponsored five (5) advanced educational training courses for neurosurgical residents and fellows.
Course topics have included:
- Endovascular
- Exit Strategies
- MIS and Emerging Spinal Technologies
- Open Vascular
- Pediatric Resident Review
- Peripheral Nerve
- Science of Practice
- Skull Base
- Spinal Deformity
- Stereotactic and Functional
- Stereotactic Radiosurgery
In FY19, the NREF hosted the following courses:
Senior Residents’ Course on MIS & Emerging Spinal Technologies
Course Directors: Praveen Mummaneni, MD, FAANS and Jack Knightly, MD, FAANS
Dates / Location: Aug. 23-25, 2018 / BNI Lab, Phoenix
Industry Supporters: Globus Medical, Johnson & Johnson Medical Device Companies, Medtronic, Stryker, NuVasive, Bioventus Surgical, Titan Spine, Orthofix, Misonix, Synaptive, SI-Bone, Innovasis, Brainlab, Siemens, Olympus and Amedica
Skull Base for Senior Residents
Course Director: Jon H. Robertson, MD, FAANS
Dates / Location: Sept. 13-16, 2018 / MERI Lab, Memphis, Tenn.
Industry Supporters: Leica Microsystems, ZEISS, Medtronic, Armamentarium, Aesculap, Zimmer Biomet, DePuy Synthes, Olympus, Integra, Synaptive, Stryker, Karl Storz, and Methodist University Hospital
Neuroendovascular Surgery Techniques Course for Fellows
Course Directors: Adam Arthur, MD, MPH, FAANS and Erol Veznedaroglu, MD, FAANS
Dates / Location: Sept. 21-23, 2018 / MERI Lab, Memphis, Tenn.
Industry Supporters: Medtronic, MicroVention, Stryker, Penumbra, Siemens, and Cerenovus
Endovascular & Vascular Techniques Course for Senior Residents
Course Directors: Adam Arthur, MD, MPH, FAANS, Erol Veznedaroglu, MD, FAANS and Michael T. Lawton, MD, FAANS
Dates / Location: Oct. 11-14, 2018 / MERI Lab, Memphis, Tenn.
Industry Supporters: MicroVention, Medtronic, Stryker, Penumbra, Leica Microsystems, Cerenovus, ZEISS, Aesculap, Siemens, Mizuho, Peter Lazic, and Zimmer Biomet
Spinal Deformity for Residents
Course Directors: Justin Smith, MD, PhD, FAANS and Daniel Sciubba, MD, FAANS
Dates / Location: Feb. 22-24, 2019 / BNI Lab, Phoenix
Industry Supporters: DePuy Synthes, Globus Medical, K2M, and Zimmer Biomet
The NREF would like to thank the industry supporters, course directors and faculty for another successful year of resident education.
Online Courses
While spaces at the AANS/NREF Resident Education Courses are invitation-only, several courses are available online, free of charge, to neurosurgical residents around the world. Each program consists of several hours of didactic lectures based on the course topic.
Course topics include:
- Endovascular/Vascular Course
- Exit Strategies for Senior Residents
- MIS & Emerging Spinal Technologies
- Neuroendovascular Surgery Techniques
- Science of Neurosurgical Practice
- Skull Base Techniques
- Spinal Deformity
- Stereotactic Radiosurgery