As the only tertiary care medical center in Vermont, the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine’s Division of Neurosurgery provides comprehensive surgical management of disorders of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. Since the division's establishment in 1948, we have been committed to translating leading-edge research into improved patient care.

Residents

Medical students and neurosurgery residents participate in a variety of research activities and provide care and an array of treatment options for patients who have brain and spinal disease. By facilitating critical thinking, we advance the knowledge needed to treat neurologic disorders and enhance the quality of clinical care.


 

Academic and Clinical Excellence

Surgery

As physicians and scientists, the Division of Neurosurgery faculty brings intellectual curiosity, scientific rigor, and fundamental concern to our patients, our trainees, our colleagues, and the communities we serve in northern New England. 

We advance knowledge and innovation, and enhance efficiency through clinical, translational, and biomedical research studies designed to improve the care of patients with neurologic disease. We are dedicated to patient-and family-centric treatment of individuals with neurologic disease, and to developing the next generation of neurosurgical physicians. The UVM Neurosurgery Residency Program if fully accredited by ACGME and committed to training future leaders in the field to be outstanding clinicians, active investigators and experienced educators.


Surgery News

Sprague Quoted in Radiology Business Article on Record-low Mammogram Screenings

April 5, 2024 by Lucy Gardner Carson

(APRIL 5, 2024) Brian Sprague, Ph.D., M.S., professor of surgery, was quoted in an article in Radiology Business about a historic low in mammography screening in Vermont.

Brian Sprague, Ph.D., M.S., professor of surgery

(APRIL 5, 2024) Brian Sprague, Ph.D., M.S., professor of surgery, was quoted in an article in Radiology Business about a historic low in mammography screening in Vermont.

The proportion of eligible Vermont women who underwent breast cancer screening in the previous two years fell from 61 percent in 2019 to 56 percent in 2021 post-pandemic. Screening adherence recovered to 61 percent by 2022 but remained “substantially lower” than peak levels seen from 2007 to 2010 (66–67 percent), researchers detailed in Radiology: Imaging Cancer.

“Despite a rebound in 2022 from pandemic-associated lows, mammography screening rates in Vermont are at a historic low, and efforts to increase screening utilization are particularly needed among specific sociodemographic groups,” Sprague and co-authors wrote.

“Our study, which extends to more than 2.5 years of follow-up since the onset of the pandemic, provides further evidence for racial and ethnic disparities in return to screening and additionally highlights differences according to educational attainment and breast cancer risk,” the authors noted. “Overall, our findings add to a growing literature suggesting that post-pandemic determinants of screening adherence are similar to those observed before the pandemic,” they added.

“The recently released USPSTF draft recommendation for routine screening beginning at the age of 40 years may offer an opportune moment to reinvigorate efforts to promote mammography screening adherence in the post-pandemic era,” Sprague et al. wrote.

Read full story at Radiology Business