The University of Cincinnati Department of Neurosurgery will be increasing the number of residents it accepts for the 2020-2021 residency year. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has approved the department's request to accept an additional resident every other year. “We’re so excited because we would have not been able to do this if we didn’t have enough cases and enough teaching resources,” says Penny Schwab, UC Residency Program Manager. “It just shows that the ACGME is aware of our growth and supports us in our growth.” 

Dr. Jonathan Forbes, UC Residency Program Director, says the ACGME "does a thorough job evaluating the department's ability to train a neurosurgeon." He says it looks at the educational content of the residency, the operative caseload and complexity of cases, the education provided by faculty members and the track record of the institution.

Additionally, the ACGME approved a temporary complement increase for UC's Department of Neurosurgery to accept an additional resident to the first year program. Dr. Amber Gaulden will be joining UC in March 2020, bringing the first year program to a total of two residents. Dr. Gaulden began her residency at Wayne State University, but sought out a transfer to the University of Cincinnati when she learned of Wayne State losing its accreditation.

These two added positions highlight the growth of the Neurosurgery Department under the leadership of Dr. Joseph Cheng. Since arriving in 2017, Cheng has rapidly grown the department with the hiring of eight new faculty members. "The degree of growth, productivity and accolades the department has received in such a small period of time is unprecedented," says Dr. Forbes. “I’m blown away. It really happened phenomenally fast,” says Schwab, “It takes years for programs to rebuild. And we did it in less than a year. It’s kind of unheard of.” 

The Department of Neurosurgery will announce its two new residents on Match Day, March 20, 2020.