Department of
Medical Education

Kimberly Hamilton, MD

Name:  Kimberly Hamilton 

Board Certification: Board Eligible for Neurosurgery & Pediatric Neurosurgery

Medical School: Indiana University School of Medicine

Residency: University of Wisconsin – Madison 

Faculty Rank: Assistant Professor 

Special Clinical/Research Interests:

            Clinical – pediatric neurosurgery as a whole.  Brain tumors, vascular malformations, endoscopic management of hydrocephalus, spinal tumors, peripheral nerve tumors and injuries.

            Research – resident/student education, simulation education, physician wellness, clinical outcomes management in surgical fields.

Is there a particular population of students (e.g., ethnicity, spiritual, sexual orientation) that you would particularly like to advise?

I am happy to advise any students, neurosurgically inclined or otherwise. 

What does a typical day in the life of a neurosurgeon include?

Neurosurgery includes all aspects of patient care: clinic appointments, inpatient hospital management, and surgical interventions – sometimes all in one day.  You typically function on the treatment side of the medical equation, addressing patients who have had the diagnostic work done from their PCP (or the ED); this means explaining an illness to patients in depth and then educating them on treatment options which may or may not include surgical interventions.  Many cases are emergencies, so it is a job that requires call availability and willingness to put in long hours at all times of the day or night.

What is the biggest challenge of being a neurosurgeon?

The answer to this is different for every neurosurgeon, but for me the most persistent difficulty is finding the balance between work life and home life.  If an interesting case is brewing or recently happened at work, it’s hard to turn that adrenaline off and leave work at work. Other times, a patient may remind you of a loved one and it makes the poor prognosis you have to relay that much harder, simultaneously making you cognizant of the amount of time you spend away from family due to your career choice.

Additionally, as a neurosurgeon you have amazing opportunities to save lives; however you have great responsibility as the surgeries we take on can have great reward but also enormous risk.

How do you foresee neurosurgery changing over the next 20 years?

Even within the decade since I graduated medical school, I have first hand seen a complete change within the management of stroke, as just one example.  I think neuro-modulation (deep brain stimulation, etc) will blossom and further techniques for surgically assisted medical therapies (such as local chemotherapy medication administration) will reduce the need for large open surgical procedures.

What advice would you give a student who is considering a neurosurgery residency?

If you think you are interested, get all the exposure you can – not only to the operating room but also to clinic and the ED consultations and the nursing calls. Find a faculty member in the department and talk about your career goals and life goals – see if neurosurgery can help you attain those.  It takes serious self-reflection to understand if a high risk – high reward field is something that you will enjoy or if the stress and time commitment will be more detrimental in the long run.