Becker’s Hospital Review has recognized Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) as having one of the 100 best neurosurgery and spine programs in the nation.
The publication noted that VUMC has a 96 percent patient satisfaction rate for lumbar spine procedures and a 97 percent satisfaction rate for cervical spine procedures. Performing more than 5,000 procedures a year, VUMC is “one of the busiest academic neurosurgery centers in the country,” the magazine said.
“This is a reflection of our excellent faculty and residents,” said Reid Thompson, MD, William F. Meacham Professor of Neurological Surgery and chair of the department. “I think we have become arguably one of the best neurosurgery programs in the nation. We’ve done that the right way. We have done that by recruiting the very best faculty and retaining them. Those who have left have gone on to positions of leadership. They are department chairs around the country or vice chairs of major departments.”
The volume and complexity of neurosurgeries performed at VUMC have steadily increased over the years.
“We have grown immensely,” Thompson said. “Our catchment area for neurosurgery is about 20 percent or more of the country in terms of who comes here. We increasingly have a national presence for referrals.”
The program has six subspecialty areas, including spine, functional, neuro-oncology, pediatric neurosurgery, cerebrovascular and endovascular. VUMC trains 21 neurosurgery residents annually.
“Nationally, we are seeing elite candidates who are applying for residency programs coming to Vanderbilt,” Thompson said. “Really we are firing on all cylinders right now in neurosurgery.”