London Calling!

As globalization and technological advances are creating endless new capabilities for physicians around the world to connect and share learnings and best practices, Columbia Neurosurgery has implemented a unique experience for our residents where they have an opportunity to study at Queens Square Hospital in London, which serves as the UK's National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.  This program was the brainchild of our Chair, Dr. E. Sander Connolly  and Dr. Neil Kitchen (profile), Consultant Neurosurgeon at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), Director of the Gamma Knife Unit and lead neurosurgeon for skull-base surgery.

As Columbia Neurosurgery NYP and Queens Square are both ranked as Top 10 World's Best Specialized Hospitals this exchange program was a natural. Of the exchange program, Dr. E. Sander Connolly stated, "While I knew that learning from the leaders in British Neurosurgery would prove a remarkable opportunity for our residents, I never expected how much the faculty here would benefit. Not only have our residents brought back unexpected techniques and perspectives, but the relationship has allowed us to attract extremely talented fellows and students that we otherwise would have had a much harder time accessing."

Dr. Neil Kitchen added, “Queen Square and Columbia are so similar yet so different! We love having Columbia residents! They have universally fitted in brilliantly with our ways and contribute very significantly with their insight and experience from their Columbia training. It is a pleasure to host these young neurosurgeons and provide them with perhaps a little different perspective on clinical neurosurgery practice. We very much look forward to sending our trainees across to NYC in due course, which we view as a very exciting opportunity for our trainees and will increase the cross-fertilization of mutual neurosurgical experience and learning.”

Dr. Deborah Boyett is now the fourth resident, following Drs. Englander, Yoh and Winans, to serve on the London Neurosurgery team for six months. Located in the heart of London in Leister Square, Queens Square Hospital serves tens of thousands of patients annually; this is a major center for neurosurgery, including vast volumes of aneurysm cases and a diverse patient population with many unique and rare pathologies not typically seen in practice. Patients travel from around the country to receive treatment.

This dynamic and busy environment was the perfect fit for Dr. Boyett, who specializes in vascular neurosurgery, as she's particularly drawn to the exciting pathologies and turning high acuity cases into high-impact and often lifesaving treatments.  Dr. Boyett said, "Immediately, I felt welcomed by the team and very comforted by the fact that neurosurgery is similar across the board; the same issues that can arise in a case go across both country's practices."

In terms of how the London team is structured, Dr. Boyett shared, "They have a great model of care are also moving to a similar model that we use here at Columbia, where there is a multidisciplinary conference that will need to come to a consensus on the best treatment path for a patient. We have been inspired by this model and now our endovascular and vascular surgeons meet weekly to discuss all the vascular cases here at Columbia." Dr. Boyett has particularly enjoyed closely partnering with the endovascular/neuroradiology team as part of her efforts to foster stronger connections and enhance teamwork between the groups.

In caring for the people of England, Dr. Boyett shares, "Patients are incredibly kind and grateful. You can absolutely see how proud they are of their health systems and the NHS."

On the clinical side, Dr. Boyett reflected, "One of my favorite neurosurgery memories so far has been connecting with all of the international residents/registrars from the UK, Europe, and the Middle East. The people are really what makes the Queen Square program top notch and it feels like a family here. I also had the opportunity to teach at and become a part of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. It has been incredibly rewarding to mentor and impart surgical skills to the next generation of young trainees."

In her free time, Dr. Boyett has taken the opportunity to travel, most notably to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics.  In London, she's taken advantage of the thriving theater scene, saying, "One of my favorite shows so far has been Phantom of the Opera - it is no longer on Broadway but I was fortunate to see it here and knowing it opened on the West End definitely added some magic to the experience."

Dr. Boyett says that if other residents are offered an exchange position abroad, they should definitely consider it. "It's been really formative for me both as a human being and as a neurosurgeon. I've gotten such a unique perspective on finding ways to improve our program here in NYC and also looking ahead on how to bring the best of both worlds to my full-time practice."