Spine Technology and Rehab interventional pain fellowship

[drvlad2004]

For those still looking for a fellowship program, Spine Technology and Rehabilitation is looking to add a fellow. I finished my training there last June. The program director, Joseph Fortin, DO, is an awesome guy to learn from. All types of procedures are done including cervicals, MSK US guided injections, and some spinal cord stim trials and implants. Also, Dr. Fortin is incredible in learning how to read MRI images like a radiologist. If you have any questions about the program, feel free to PM me.

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[dc2md]

Hey Vlad. That's surprising. You spoke very highly of Dr. Fortin's fellowship. It's shocking the position starting this July is still open. Did someone back out?

From your remarks to me, and SpineMD's recent comments in the "fellowship" sticky, it sounds like a solid fellowship. Definitely above average in diversity of procedures performed. I'm sure the location is a big drawback for some. But if someone can suck it up for a year, they'll get some of the most well-rounded pain training around.

 

[ampaphb]

People may also want to speak to former fellow Ricardo Nieves regarding his experience with Dr. Fortin's fellowship (www.cspasm.com)

 

[dc2md]

People may also want to speak to former fellow Ricardo Nieves regarding his experience with Dr. Fortin's fellowship (www.cspasm.com)

Since he doesn't list any involvement with Dr. Fortin's fellowship on his website, I'm assuming his experience wasn't a positive one.

 

[drvlad2004]

Also, it would be a good idea to speak to people like Andrian Zachary, DO (Cleveland Clinic) and Nalini Sehgal, MD (U of Wisconsin) about their experiences.

STAR (Spine Technology and Rehab) already has a fellow for the following year. However, since PASSOR has now merged back into AAPMR, it seems that applicants know less about the program. Not to mention, Fort Wayne, is not the most ideal location for many applicants. My future in-laws happen to live out there, which made the transition a whole lot easier. However, Fort Wayne is a nice place to practice medicine.

Again, my experience at STAR was amazing. It is a very comprehensive interventional program. Dr. Fortin is a great guy to learn from. He runs a very tight ship. You will get an excellent glimpse on how to run a practice as well. The program is not just being a needle jockey. He makes you read a lot during the very beginning. Thank goodness he did. You get 1:1 experience with Dr. Fortin everyday. Dr. Fortin's staff from head to toe is phenomenal. I still keep close relationships with them.

If you compare STAR with many other spine programs, this has to be one of the best ones for a physiatrist hands down. I was really happy that I chose Dr Fortin's program and that he chose me. I felt very prepared once I finished there.

 

[spinemd]

I am the current fellow at Dr. Fortin's fellowship and I have posted some of my thoughts about the program on the MSK/Spine link on SDN.

I believe that there was some confusion regarding the status of our recruitment this year. We chose a fellow for 2010-2011 many, many months ago.

We are, however, currently searching for potential 2011-2012 candidates.

I have travelled from a very big city to study under Dr. Fortin's leadership with the intent to fill my "interventional toolbox" with the greatest variety of procedures possible. I knew that here I could not only learn how to perform interventional procedures correctly, but also to learn what I can can do for my patients beyond treating traditional LBP. For example, suboccipital nerve RF, C0,1 and C1,2 blocks for suboccipital pain, cervical discography, thoracic nerve blocks (which some interventionalists don't believe are possible--including an interventional pain physician who was a patient of ours and needed one), thoracic facet blocks and RFAs for Rx of Maigne syndrome and refractory thoracic pain, peripheral nerve pulsed RF. The list goes on..... In most places these procedures are considered rare. Here, they are typical.

The truth is that many of us will lead our professional lives treating LBP, but there will be times when we may need to treat thoracic mediated abdominal pain, suboccipital pain, HA, neurogenic axial pain, and perhaps perform a vertebral biopsy or two. If you are content with learning basic procedures then perhaps this fellowship is not for you. On the other hand, if you are one who is interested in learning unique skill sets to treat a myriad of difficult patients and conditions you should consider applying.