Neurocritical Care Fellowship

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), located in downtown Charleston, was founded in 1824 and is a major tertiary/quaternary referral center for the Lowcountry and in the state of South Carolina. The medical center is a 700+ bed facility that is designated as a level-one trauma center and comprehensive stroke center. MUSC is the center of a very robust telemedicine/telestroke service throughout the state with over 30 sites.  In 2018, there were over 1000 admissions for ischemic stroke and over 200 thrombectomies were performed. We offer fellowship training in addition to Neurocritical Care in Cerebrovascular Neurology and Neuroendovascular Surgery.

The Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit (NSICU) is a semi-closed ICU staffed full time by dedicated neurointensivists. The ICU has access to continuous EEG monitoring, multiple bedside ultrasounds, video laryngoscopy, bronchoscopes, PbO2 monitors and more. Patient care is enhanced by collaboration with the Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Neuroendovascular Surgery services; however, the Neurocritical Care team holds the primary responsibility for day-to-day patient management.

  

For an in-depth look of Neurocritical Care education in our program, please check out our additional website, NCC Education, which focuses on topics that are key concepts in the field of neurocritical care for all learning levels!

Curriculum

Our fellowship is accredited by UCNS, and we offer 2-year traditional fellowship training as well as 1-year training for candidates who are eligible. The curriculum of the program is clinically focused, but it does allow time for research interests and we expect fellows to become involved in research/publications while in training. A major strength of the program is that we have trained many diverse specialties and have a team with multiple board-certified backgrounds leading to a unique teaching environment not offered at many centers. Our program is capable of adapting the fellowship program to the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, while ensuring that they are skilled in the fundamentals of Neurocritical Care.

Sample Schedule

While the majority of time is spent in the NSICU, fellows can rotate through the Surgical-Trauma ICU, Medical ICU, Med-Surg ICU (in Ashley River Tower) and Cardiovascular ICU. In addition, fellows have elective opportunities in Stroke, Neuroendovascular Surgery, Neurophysiology, Neuroradiology, Pulmonary Procedure Lab/Bronchoscopy Suite, and the Neurovascular Lab (TCDs, carotid US, etc).

Year 1

3 months NeuroICU and Consults
6 months of Critical Care (STICU, CVICU, MICU, etc.)
3 months of electives
3 weeks of vacation
1 – 2 weeks of Board Studying
Call = 6 weeks of night float with NP (Sun-Thurs) and 1 daytime weekend/month covering NeuroICU

Year 2

12 months of NeuroICU and Consults
3 weeks of vacation
Call = 4 weeks night float with NP (Sun-Thurs) and 1 daytime weekend/month covering NeuroICU 

Procedures

Our fellowship is primarily clinically focused to provide fellows the strongest opportunity at excelling in clinical care. Given our relationship with the Department of Neurosurgery and the Neurosurgery Residency, our fellows often get experience in many types of procedures and procedural skills, including but not limited to:

• Arterial Line Placement
• Central Venous Catheter Placement
• Pulmonary Artery Catheterization
• Intubations
• Bronchoscopy
• Percutaneous and Open Tracheostomy
• Thoracentesis and Paracentesis
• Lumbar Punctures and Lumbar Drain Placement
• Extra Ventricular Drainage
• Placement and Management of Ventriculostomy and Neuromonitors
• Procedural Sedation & Analgesia
• Interpretation and Use of cEEG
• Ultrasonography in Critical Care
• Subdural Evacuating Port System (SEPS)

We expect that our fellows will have significant exposure to these procedures and will be competent prior to completion of the fellowship.

Conferences

These are regular conferences which are attended by NCC staff and fellows.

• Critical Care Grand Rounds
• Weekly Neurosurgery conference
• Weekly NSICU Attending Lectures 
• Monthly Regional Journal Club
• Bi-Monthly Fellow Journal Club  
• Bi-Monthly M&M conference

Faculty

Julio Chalela, M.D.
Professor, Medical Director of NSICU
Certifications: ABPN – Neurology, Neurocritical Care and Vascular Neurology, ASN – Neurovascular Sonography, UCNS – Neurocritical Care
Neurology Residency at Georgetown University
Cerebrovascular Fellowship at University of Pennsylvania
Neurocritical Care Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University
Interests: Acute Neuromuscular Weakness, Status Epilepticus

Charlie Andrews, M.D.
Associate Professor, Fellowship Director
Certifications: ABPN – Neurocritical Care, ABEM – Emergency Medicine, CAST – Neurocritical Care, UCNS – Neurocritical Care
Emergency Medicine Residency at Medical University of South Carolina
Neurocritical Care Fellowship at Medical University of South Carolina
Interests: Acute Neurologic Emergencies, Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Danuel Snelgrove, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Associate Fellowship Director
Certifications: ABPN – Neurology, Neurocritical Care, UCNS – Neurocritical Care
Neurology Residency at Medical University of South Carolina
Neurocritical Care Fellowship at Medical University of South Carolina
Interests: Acute Resuscitation and Shock, Refractory Status Epilepticus, Traumatic Brain Injury, Coma and Disorders of Consciousness, Survivorship Outreach

Niren Kapoor, MBBS, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Certifications: ABPN – Neurology, UCNS – Neurocritical Care
Neurology Residency at University of Alabama at Birmingham
Neurocritical Care Fellowship at University of Pennsylvania
Interests: Neurotrauma, Multimodal Monitoring

Jimmy Suh, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Certifications: ABPN – Neurology, Neurocritical Care, UCNS – Neurocritical Care, ASN – Neurovascular Sonography
Neurology Residency at Medical University of South Carolina
Neurocritical Care Fellowship at Emory University
Interests: Medical Education, Subarachnoid Hemorrhages, and Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome

Current Fellows

 Hope Olszewski, D.O.
 2023-2025
 Neurology Resident at University of Illinois College of Medicine
 Medical Interests: Status Epilepticus and PRES
 Outside Hospital Interests: Exploring the outdoors, photography, and playing with my cat Walteplase (named from a pun on Alteplase)

Previous Fellows

Ganga Navada, M.D. 2022-2024
Kate O'Connell, D.O. 2021-2023
Danuel Snelgrove, M.D. 2018-2020
Elizabeth Megan Callan, M.D. 2018-2020
Suhas Pai, M.D. 2017-2018
Patrick Britell, M.D. 2015-2016
Michael Errico, D.O. 2013-2015
Charles Andrews, M.D. 2011-2013

How to Apply

MUSC participates in the SF Match Program, and applications will be submitted through the applicant registration portal once it's open in February. Interviews will be held virtually in April, and invitations to interview will be sent by Mid-March. 

Eligible candidates are board certified/board-eligible, or currently in one of the following ACGME residency programs:

• Anesthesia
• Emergency Medicine
• Internal Medicine
• Neurology
• Neurosurgery

Candidates should submit the following:

• Current Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Personal statement
• Three letters of recommendation

Fellowship positions may remain open, and candidates may submit their application materials directly to the fellowship coordinator when applying for these positions. Interviews for these applicants will be determined by the fellowship director and planned accordingly.

Contact

For more information contact the Fellowship Coordinator or Fellowship Director.

Carole Lavender
Program Coordinator
lavendec@musc.edu
843-876-5053

Charlie Andrews, M.D.
Fellowship Director
andrewscm@musc.edu
843-792-7560

Danuel Snelgrove, M.D.
Associate Fellowship Director
snelgrov@musc.edu
843-792-8580