Clinical Experience

The greatest strength of our fellowship is the breadth and depth of experience the fellow receives. The surgeons of the WVU Spine Center perform over 1100 cases per year. Our unique geographic location allows us to treat patients from the entire state of West Virginia as well as portions of six surrounding states. The fellow will learn to treat the entire spectrum of spinal pathology, including degenerative, traumatic, deformity and neoplastic conditions. While the focus is on treatment of the adult spine, the fellow also has the opportunity to perform pediatric procedures as well. The fellow will gain experience in both open and minimally invasive procedures.

The fellowship is broken into rotations, featuring blocks of time with each of our Orthopaedic Spine Surgeons (Drs. Emery, France, and Daffner), as well as a Neurosurgical block. Adequate “elective” time is given in the final months of the fellowship to allow the fellow to cover interesting or unique cases and to pursue special interests. Typically, the fellow will spend 3-4 days a week in the OR with one day of clinic and ½ to 1 day devoted to research or scholarly activity. All surgery is performed at Ruby Memorial Hospital, and outpatient clinics are attached to the hospital building.