The neurocritical care fellowship is located in New York’s second largest city, Buffalo. The program is centered at Mercy Hospital which serves as the tertiary care facility of an 8-hospital system, Catholic Health, as well as a transfer hub for multiple outlying hospitals. It is the only ICU completely staffed by neurointensivists in the area. The private hospital system maintains an affiliation and several core rotations with the university and local trauma systems including Kaleida Health facilities and Erie County Medical Center. In addition, Catholic Health serves as an education site for several residencies, fellowships, and medical students with the NCCU serving as a core rotation site for university vascular neurology fellows.
The NCCU is staffed 24/7 by an experienced nurse practitioner team allowing the fellowship to focus on engagement and education, rather than a reliance on fellows. Our fellows get a multidisciplinary experience and spend time learning and rotating with our medical and cardiovascular ICU teams including exposure to mechanical circulatory support and ECMO. During these rotations our fellows will have excellent procedural opportunity as the only critical care fellows and are expected to graduate with competency in endotracheal intubation, the placement of central venous catheters, arterial lines, external ventricular drains, and lumbar drains with opportunity to become credentialed in bronchoscopy, thoracostomy, and placement of pulmonary artery or trans-venous pacemakers if desired. In addition, our fellows spend dedicated time working with experts in epileptology, neuroimaging, neurotrauma, and are encouraged and supported in the efforts to purse a fellowship tailored to their career goal as demonstrated by the diversity in career paths of our previous fellows.
Fellows serve as the Co-chair of the peer review committee and host journal club as in folded leadership experience for fellows preparing for independent practice.
Annual Stroke volume > 500 with > 60 Endovascular reperfusion cases
Annual Subarachnoid Hemorrhage volume > 30 with > 50 aneurysm coiling cases
Average Intracerebral Hemorrhage volume > 50
About the area, Buffalo and Western New York
Buffalo and the surrounding area have a population of about one million people. Niagara Falls is 12 miles from downtown Buffalo and has one of the busiest parks in the nation. Buffalo hosts several professional sports teams including the Buffalo Bills and Sabres. With Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills continuing their quest for a super bowl championship and new Stadium on the horizon for 2025, there is a lot of excitement in the air. Our hockey team, the Buffalo Sabers, provide professional hockey entertainment at their downtown stadium with many surrounding restaurants, skating rinks, and entertainment for children.
We are known for snow and although the amount we receive is often exacerbated we do have 2 ski areas within 30 minutes of Mercy Hospital and two larger ski areas within 45 minutes. The Buffalo waterfront has been beautifully developed over the past 5 years and continues to grow. Numerous waterfront music events, restaurants, water activities make the downtown a fun place to relax. The Buffalo Philharmonic orchestra performs in an acoustically renown Kleynhans Music Hall. The university of Buffalo is 36,000 strong with graduate schools in medicine, law, and architecture as examples.
In southern Ontario, just across the border from Niagara Falls, Wine country offers a beautiful venue. The Shaw festival in Niagara on the Lake Ontario is a national treasure. Toronto in 90 minutes from Buffalo by car. This 22nd century metropolis is a great destination. Buffalo is a diverse community. The Dali Lama choose to speak at the University of Buffalo because it was the most racially eclectic university in the US.
Summers are mild and Hiking, fishing and boating on numerous lakes provide a unique atmosphere. There are excellent public and private schools in the area. Family activities are abundant at our natural history and modern art museums. Outdoor events saturate the summer schedule.
We love living in Buffalo and hope you will too!
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Application Process
We accept inquiries year-round. We can only take US citizens or permanent residents. Unfortunately, we are currently unable to accept visa holders (i.e., J1 or H1b). Interested applicants should submit the following documents to the Program Coordinator:
- Current CV
- Letter of intent/Personal Statement
- Three (3) letters of recommendation, one of these must be from your current Program Director if still in training.
- USMLE Score Reports and ECFMG certificate (if applicable)
- Certificate of completion of ACGME-accredited residency, if you have completed residency training at the time of application. (A letter from the Program Director indicating the expected matriculation date of residency may suffice if still in training)
William Coplin, MD, FCCM, FNCS
Medical Director Neurocritical Care
Amanda Melas
Neuroscience Program Administrator/Neurocritical Care Fellowship Program Coordinator
Akelly2@chsbuffalo.org
Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, Neurosciences
515 Abbot Rd. Suite 408
Buffalo, NY 14220
Phone: (716) 828-3123
Fax: (716) 828-3890