Message from the Program Director

James W. Leiphart, MD, PhD
Program Director
Neurological Surgery Residency Program

It is an exciting time to be part of the neurosurgery program at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus. In nearly a decade of neurosciences leadership led by Dr. James Ecklund, the former chairman of the Walter Reed Neurosurgery Residency, Inova Fairfax Medical Campus has evolved from a level 1 trauma center with a busy clinical neurosurgery service to an academic center with a comprehensive neurosciences program. Inova Fairfax Medical Campus was granted a neurological surgery residency program beginning in July 2017. This privilege and responsibility allows us to leverage the comprehensive Department of Neurosciences and the growing Inova Fairfax Medical Campus in the training of the next generation of neurosurgeons.

I encourage you to strongly consider the Inova Fairfax Neurological Surgery Residency for your training in Neurosurgery. The Department of Neurosurgery is fortunate to have a team of fellowship trained specialists representing all major areas of neurosurgery sub-specialization. This includes program leaders in the areas of neuro-oncology, cerebrovascular and endovascular, spine and spinal deformity, neuro-trauma, pediatrics, movement disorders, epilepsy and peripheral nerve. These specialists are complemented by equally trained and subspecialized Neurologists as well as other sub specialized physicians, clinical specialists and programmatic resources. Inova Fairfax Medical Campus is participating in several clinical trials including clinical trials in neuro-oncology, cerebrovascular and pain. The research program also includes a collaboration with the Department of Engineering at George Mason University to develop innovative neurosurgical technologies and basic science in genomics.

Inova Fairfax Medical Campus is constantly growing, recently reaching more than 1,000 beds with the addition of a new Women's and Children's Hospital, adding to the main hospital and the Inova Vascular and Heart Institute. Inova Fairfax Medical Campus is home to a satellite of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, training over thirty medical students per year in the students’ third and fourth years of medical school. Resident physicians within the neurosurgery residency will have the benefits of both large clinical volumes and the opportunity to participate in the training of medical students. We feel that the experience gained in the Inova Fairfax Neurosurgery Residency will rival any experience in neurosurgery training in the country. We look forward to the challenge and opportunity of training our first complement of neurosurgery residents.

Videos: Meet our Inova neuroscience physicians