Harvard University, in conjunction with Massachusetts General Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers an extensive neurosurgical residency in a research-orientated program that produces surgeon-scientists. Residents gain exposure to subspecialties like neuro-oncology, a multidisciplinary group of neurooncologists, neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists who address brain tumor cases. Residents engage in training at the Pediatric Neurosurgical Center and the Cranial Base Center, among others. MGH ranked third for neurology and neurosurgery in 2013 by “U.S. News and World Report,” a strong indicator of a top neurosurgical program.
The Neurosurgery Residency Program at Johns Hopkins University of Baltimore, Md., believes in the clinician-scientist model, offering a number of research areas, such as spinal tumors and the application of technology to neurosurgery. The department brings new facilities for research, surgery and patient-care to the program with state-of-the-art operating rooms, complete with an intra-operative MRI machine for real-time images during neurosurgery. Johns Hopkins houses several research centers, such as the Multiple Sclerosis and the Neuro-AIDS research areas, with cutting-edge discoveries, such as clues about how Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis develops. The university ranked in the top four world-class medical schools, except for the "The Times Higher Education" rankings, who ranked it seventh, a clear indication of the best in neurosurgical training.
The School of Medicine, Neurosurgery Department, at Stanford University provides a residency that is based at four hospitals, such as the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. The Neurosurgery Department performs over 4,000 neurosurgical procedures, annually. The department has a strong research emphasis, such as the use of hypothermia and gene therapies for stroke treatment, in addition to research programs in children’s brain tumors and the transmission of information from the eye to the brain. Graduates go on to positions at top universities and hospitals, such as Duke University. The university medical school ranked in the top ten schools worldwide.
The neurosurgical residency program at the University of California at San Francisco offers cutting-edge training in research and neurosurgery at five hospitals in the area. The extensive faculty work with residents in surgery and research, such as the brain and spinal injury center or the neurospinal disorders research area, with surgery in all subspecialties, such as radiosurgery and peripheral nerve disorders. The university ranked in the top ten world-class medical schools, except for QS, who ranked it 12th.