Neurocritical Care Felllowship

Program Description

The Neurocritical Care Fellowship is a two-year clinical program designed to train board-eligible neurologists in neurocritical care. The fellowship program was established in 1994 and is accredited by both UCNS and ACGME. The UCSF training program is among the most clinically rigorous and recognized for its well-trained, competent and confident Neurointensivists. Fellows are eligible for subspecialty board certification in Neurocritical Care at the completion of training. Fellows spend time in dedicated neurocritical care and subspecialty units at our academic medical center and at our county hospital and Neurotrauma ICU. In addition, fellows are integrated into our affiliate ACGME training programs in Vascular Neurology and Critical Care medicine (CCM). Our fellows benefit from this rich academic teaching environment learning not only from leaders in Neurocritical care, but from multidisciplinary faculty experts in their respective specialty focus areas.

Mission

Our goal is to train future leaders in Neurocritical Care in an academic medical center environment. Our fellowship is designed to promote clinical excellence among our graduates while building a foundation of leadership and critical thinking to manage complex critically ill patients in a variety of clinical settings. We seek fellows from diverse backgrounds and interests who will use their training to advance clinical care for all, to discover innovative solutions to improve patient outcomes and quality of care and to educate the next generation of neurointensivists.

Details

The curriculum and electives in particular are tailored to the fellow's specific interests in three main areas: Clinical excellence, Research (basic science, translational, clinical, quality) and Education. The clinical rotations are divided into the following blocks over 2 years of training:

  • 4 months NeuroICU/Neurovascular at UCSF Moffit-Long Hospitals
  • 8 months NeuroICU/Trauma at ZSFG Hospital
  • 6 months General ICU/Anesthesia at UCSF and ZSFG
  • 6 months Electives
  • (4 weeks of vacation each year)

In addition to training with faculty leaders in neurocritical care, during the Neurovascular/NICU rotation, fellows work closely with Vascular neurology faculty and fellows, Vascular Neurosurgery and Neurointerventional radiology to manage complex cerebrovascular patients.

While at ZSFG, fellows work in a Level 1 trauma unit and co-manage of TBI and SCI with expert trauma neurosurgeons, use multimodality monitoring and post- cardiac arrest TTM management. Common neurological disorders including: status epilepticus, encephalitis, neuromuscular respiratory failure, meningitis, demyelinating disease as well as ischemic strokes and hemorrhages are managed along with trained neurocritical care faculty members.

Fellows are integrated in the ACGME Critical Care medicine fellowship and gain ICU training in Medical, Surgical, Cardiac specialty units, and closed MICU at ZSFG. Faculty represent high-level experts in a variety of disciplines in our CCM group – Pulmonary, anesthesia, surgery and cardiology. Fellows also have focused anesthesia training in the OR, training in critical care ultrasound, and simulator training in airway and acute resuscitation.

Elective time can be customized to meet individual fellows needs including advanced clinical rotations in TCD and vascular lab, NIR/neurosurgery, neurohospitalist, and other medical specialties. Additional training can be focused on Quality improvement projects and educator certificate courses. There are many opportunities for fellow-led teaching from Fellow-faculty didactics, formal medical student courses, housestaff didactics and bedside rounds.

Research Opportunities

Fellows will gain exposure to clinical trials through participation in the SIREN and StrokeNet NIH trials network. For fellows interested in a clinical research track, we have formal coursework through our CTSI with didactic teaching in the basics of biostatistics, epidemiology and study design. All fellows are matched with a faculty advisor to help identify potential projects and research mentors. Fellows can work on their own research project or collaborate on existing projects. Fellows are encouraged to present an abstract at a national meeting and complete a first-authored manuscript, review paper, quality improvement project or other scholarly activity.

Facilities/Training Sites 

Fellows train at our 2 main adult hospitals:

• UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights (Moffitt-Long Hospitals) is a tertiary/quaternary care hospital and Comprehensive Stroke Center for complex patients with dedicated specialty intensive care units
• Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG) is a Level 1 Trauma center and an anchor hospital that serves the City and County of San Francisco.

How to Apply

Prerequisites

Fellows are required to have completed ACGME-accredited Neurology residency program and must have an active California Medical License by the start of fellowship. If you are a graduate of a foreign medical school, you must hold a current, valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). This is mandatory for appointment at this institution as well as for licensure in the State of California.

Information to Provide

1. Centralized Application Service (CAS) Application:

  • Complete Personal Info form.
  • Submit Required Supplemental form.

2. Personal Statement.
3. CV.
4. USMLE/COMLEX or equivalent transcripts.
5. Three (3) letters of reference.
6. ECFMG Certificate (applicable to International Medical Graduates).

Application Process

For applicants interested in starting fellowship training in July 2025, all Neurocritical Care fellowship applicants will need to use a centralized application service (CAS) administered through SFMatch. Please follow instructions on the link below:

https://sfmatch.org/specialties

Applicants must also register for the Neurocritical Care Match through SFMatch.

Applicant Dates

January 5, 2026 – Registration opens at SF Match

February 28, 2026 – application target date

April 28, 2026 – Interview date

May 11, 2026 – Interview date

May 18, 2026 – Interview date

May 26, 2026 – Interview date

June 8, 2026 – Interview date

August 3, 2026 – ROL (rank order list) due at 12:00PM (PST)

August 10, 2026 – Match Day Results at 9:00AM (PST)

August 11, 2026 – Post-match vacancies listed in SF Match

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I be able to take the new Neurocritical Care board exam as a trainee in your program?
Yes, we are currently accredited by UCNS and will be transitioning to ACGME this year. Current fellows are eligible to take both UCNS and ABPN board exams.
Incoming fellows will meet criteria for training in an ACGME-accredited program by 2026-2027.


Does the fellowship program accept J1 or H1B visas?
We currently do not have a non-standard training (NST) pathway in our program and not able to accept visa holders. After the transition to ACGME, we will be eligible to accept visa holders.


Does the fellowship program accept applications from non-neurology training backgrounds?
Our program is designed to train neurologists. We would consider applications from other training backgrounds on an individual basis.

Contact Us

Please direct any questions to our Program Coordinator, Virginia Schuler.

Nerissa U. Ko, MD, MAS
Neurocritical Care Fellowship Program Director

UCSF Department of Neurology
505 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0114
San Francisco, CA 94143-0114
Phone: 415-502-1453 or 415-476-1489
Fax: 415-476-3428

Resources