Leadership and Mentorship | Neurological Surgery Residency

Neurosurgery residents are placed in leadership positions early in their clinical training, and our program aims to provide them with the insight and skills necessary to be effective leaders during complex and challenging situations. Our residents participate in a comprehensive leadership development program throughout their residency and demonstrate increasing leadership abilities as their experience and training progresses.

Instructor:

Kia Shahlaie, M.D., Ph.D
Professor and Chair Department of Neurological Surgery

In addition to his clinical and research activities, Kia Shahlaie, M.D., Ph.D. has a strong interest in resident and medical student education. He is an award winning instructor at the UC Davis School of Medicine, where he serves as a mentor and student advisor. Shahlaie has a particular interest in professional development and leadership, and has completed the UC Davis School of Medicine Junior Career Leadership Program and the UC Davis Faculty Leadership Academy. The Neurosurgery Resident Leadership Program that Shahlaie co-founded with Gene Crumley, Th.D., with an emphasis on emotional intelligence, is the first of its kind at UC Davis.

Leadership Opportunities

Neurological surgery residents will have opportunities to:

• Participate in committee service
• Present at institutional conferences
• Teach at the medical school
• Teach regional courses such as ENLS
• Lead quality improvement projects
• Obtain funding for independent research

Residents of Neurological Surgery participate and provide service on a variety of department and hospital committees

List of committee participation opportunities:

• PGY1 : Inpatient Care Committee
• PGY2 : Program Evaluation Committee
• PGY3 : Resident Medical Staff Committee
• PGY4 :(electives)
• PGY5 :(research/enfolded)
• PGY6 : Program Evaluation Committee
• PGY7 : Inpatient Care Committee

Mentoring is a top priority for our program. We offer a comprehensive mentoring program to guide and support residents throughout their residency program. All residents will be assigned to a faculty mentor that they will meet with quarterly to discuss scholarly activities, research, and career planning.  Faculty mentors will be available to discuss any issues or concerns that might arise during residency to provide any necessary support.

Responsibilities of Mentor:

• Help resident set priorities to achieve goals
• Provide assessment and formative feedback
• Encourage creative and broader thinking
• Provide emotional support
• Act as an advocate and sponsor

Responsibilities of Mentee:

• Provide updated portfolio to mentor at the scheduled meetings
• Share personal goals and priorities
• Provide any updates that have occurred since past meeting
• Share with mentor any problems or frustrations that may be occurring either personally or professionally
• Actively engage in creating quarterly action plan of achievable goals

Each junior resident also is paired with a senior resident to provide peer mentoring for the first three years of residency. In addition to enhancing support for junior residents, senior residents have an opportunity to exercise their growing leadership skills.