Andrew Jea MD, Professor and Vice Chairman
Residency Program Director
Dear Prospective Applicant,
Welcoming a new class of residents and visiting medical students is the highlight of our academic year.
The early years of neurosurgery at The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine (OUCoM) were defined by Drs. Harry Wilkins and Jess Hermann. Dr. Wilkins is considered the father of neurosurgery at OUCoM when he arrived on the campus in 1931 after his own training. The Division of Neurosurgery at OUCoM was founded in 1946; its residency program started the same year. It is one of the country's oldest and longest, continuously running neurosurgery resident programs.
The Department of Neurosurgery was established in 1993 and continues to be the state’s only academic neurosurgery program. Today, the Department consists of 15 full-time clinical faculty, 8 basic science researchers, and 11 post-doctoral fellows and neurosciences graduate students. The educational program includes a complement of 2-1-2-1-2-1-2 residents per year and a pediatric neurosurgery fellow each year (total 11 residents, 1 fellow) who assist in about 3,000 cases annually. The hospitals on The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Campus (OUHSC) (1,200+ beds), including OU Medical Center (OUMC), Oklahoma Children’s Hospital (OCH), Stephenson Cancer Center (SCC), and the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center (VAMC), serve largely uninsured and underserved rural segments of the Oklahoma and the surrounding region. It houses the state’s only Level I trauma center and free-standing children’s hospital.
Our educational mission is to train and prepare our residents for an academic neurosurgical general or subspecialty practice. Scholarly pursuits and clinical excellence are emphasized. Nonetheless, resident wellness is at the heart of our residency program where we strive to help our junior colleagues find joy in the work that they have dedicated their lives to.
After visiting our website, if you have questions, please contact me at andrew-jea@ouhsc.edu.
We look forward to meeting you!
Sincerely,
Andrew Jea, MD MBA MHA
Professor and Vice-Chair
Residency Program Director
Department of Neurosurgery
The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
Dr. Jea with the OUHSC Neurosurgery Residents 2022-2023 Academic Season
Left to Right: Helen Shi (PGY-5), Xiaochun "Kyle" Zhao (PGY-3), Ernst Griffin (PGY-6), Panayiotis Pelargos (PGY-6), Ali Palejwala (PGY-7 Chief Resident), Alison Westrup (PGY-1), Dr. Andrew Jea (Residency Program Director), Nicholas Hopkins (PGY-3), Lance Villeneuve (PGY-6), Burak Ozaydin (PGY-1), Sherwin Tavakol (PGY-2), Mark Stephens (PGY-4)