Spinal Cord Injury Medicine
The Spinal Cord Injury Medicine Fellowship is an ACGME-accredited, 12-month fellowship program designed to train academic, specialty-trained spinal cord injury physicians to provide the highest level of medical and rehabilitation care and advance the frontiers of spinal cord injury medicine through research and education. The fellowship is sponsored by the University of Minnesota’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. The fellowship works collaboratively with the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute - Abbott Northwestern Hospital, and Gillette Children's Hospital to provide a comprehensive educational experience.
Our program provides opportunities to care for patients of all ages with an emphasis on the concept of lifelong care, including end of life. The Minneapolis VAMC serves as the “hub,” where care is provided for veterans from all over the Midwest region.
Fellows encounter a broad range of conditions in spinal cord injury medicine in inpatient and outpatient settings. Common diagnoses include: traumatic spinal cord injury, spinal cord disorders such as MS, ALS, infections, infarcts, tumors and myelopathy, and pediatric conditions such as spina bifida. Fellows will master care of the multitude of complications secondary to spinal cord injury, such as autonomic dysregulation, neurogenic bowel and bladder, sexual dysfunction, and overuse injuries.
Fellows are exposed to comprehensive spasticity management including intrathecal baclofen therapy, botulinum toxin and phenol injections and joint injections. Opportunities are available to advance EMG skills and to encounter cystoscopy and urodynamic testing for neurogenic bladder, flap surgeries, ITB test dose trials, and implants.
Program Aims
- Recruit strong candidates with diverse backgrounds and experiences looking to further their skills and training to become exceptional SCI physicians
- Provide trainees with an intellectual environment conducive to acquiring the knowledge, skills, clinical judgment and attitudes that are essential to SCI medicine
Sites and Rotations
- Inpatient and outpatient experiences
- Preventative SCI medicine
- ALS clinic
- Palliative care
- Intrathecal baclofen pump management
- Botulinum toxin injections for spasticity
- Didactics
- Outpatient Experience
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Research
Links of Interest
- VAMC Adaptive Sports Programming
- Minnesota Spinal Cord Injury Model System: A multi-disciplinary continuum of care for people with spinal cord injury.
Regions Hospital | HealthPartners | Hennepin County Medical Center
- Acute traumatic SCI inpatient consultations
- Inpatient experience
- Outpatient experience
- Didactics
Gillette Children's Hospital
- Pediatric outpatient experience
- Intrathecal baclofen pump management
Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute
- Inpatient experience
- Outpatient opportunities
- Activity-Based Locomotor Exercise (ABLE) Program
Program & Policy Manuals
For information that applies to all fellows in a training program at the University of Minnesota, consult the Institution Policy Manual. Information in this manual takes precedence over the Program Manual in cases where there is conflict.
Contact
Dr. Mandy DeRasmi
Spinal Cord Injury Fellowship Director
[email protected]
Mailing Address
Spinal Cord Injury Medicine Fellowship Program
420 Delaware Street SE
MMC 297
Minneapolis, MN 55455
