Headache & Facial Pain Fellowship

1. Breadth of Patient Experience

Fellows will independently see patients with a wide-range of primary and secondary headache and craniofacial pain disorders from diverse demographic segments in an outpatient setting. These patients are referred from a regional, national, and international base and present with a broad range of interesting, unusual and refractory disorders. Fellows will have detailed discussions with the headache faculty for each patient seen. Fellows will become proficient in advanced interventional procedures including Onabotulinum toxin injections, occipital nerve blocks, supraorbital and supratrochlear nerve blocks, auriculotemporal nerve blocks, sphenopalatine ganglion blocks, and trigger point injections. Fellows will also have the opportunity to manage complex headache and craniofacial pain disorders in our outpatient infusion center and will become skilled using infusion therapies.

2. Extensively detailed formal headache curriculum

Fellows actively participate in a comprehensive weekly year-long didactic curriculum in which they learn about every facet of headache medicine including all primary and secondary headache disorders, facial pain and other cranial neuralgias, transitional, preventive and acute treatments, interventional procedures, neuromodulation devices, drug-drug interactions, neuroimaging and diagnostic evaluation of headache, and infusion therapy. These weekly didactic sessions are guided by assigned readings on each of these topics and discussed with our entire headache faculty.

3. Neuroradiology rounds

Under the leadership of Dr. Jignesh Modi, our chief neuroradiologist, we have bimonthly dedicated neuroradiology rounds where we review imaging studies and neurointerventional procedures for our patients. As part of our neuroradiology rounds, we also have lectures on incidental findings and normal anatomical variants on neuroimaging in adults for primary headaches.

4. Lecture series and case conference

These include a set of core lectures that are presented by headache faculty and guest speakers expert in topics related to headache as well as from disciplines that intersect with headache medicine such as pediatric headache, behavioral health, psychiatry, neuroradiology, women’s health, neuro-otology, otolaryngology, physical therapy, integrative medicine, medical weight loss, pain medicine, and sleep medicine. Case conferences are held weekly and serve as a venue for formal discussion of patients with complicated headache and medical histories to discuss multidisciplinary treatment plans amongst our entire headache faculty.

5. Headache Council

Recognizing the opportunity to optimize headache care across an entire healthcare system and state, our headache program developed the first monthly interdisciplinary headache council in the country with representation from multiple disciplines that intersect with headache medicine, including primary care, behavioral health, outpatient infusion centers, neuroradiology, rehabilitation, women’s health, pain management, ophthalmology, emergency medicine, urgent care, otolaryngology, neuro-otology, integrative medicine, neurosurgery, medical weight loss, sleep medicine, and the internal research, media, and marketing teams. Our goal is to improve patient access for interdisciplinary headache care by standardizing a communication process for referrals into the headache program; improving interdisciplinary communication to promote education, research, and patient care via interdisciplinary case conferences; and creating an interdisciplinary telemedicine headache program. Fellows actively participate in our monthly council meetings and are engaged in quality initiative projects developed there.

6. Research

It is important to be able to critically evaluate peer-reviewed literature, to have a sense of what is involved in clinical trials, and to learn how to construct, execute, and write up a research project. Fellows will have access to some of the top scientists and clinicians in the field of headache medicine and will participate in research projects and scientific writing. Faculty support is readily available.

7. Professional Growth

Regional, national and international conferences are excellent opportunities to enhance educational connections and establish professional collaborations. Financial support is available through scholarships provided by conference sponsors.

• AHS Scottsdale Headache Symposium (November)
• International Headache Academy (January)
• Headache Cooperative of New England (November)
• AAN Annual Meeting (Spring)
• AHS Annual Scientific Meeting (Summer)
• IHS International Headache Conference (September)

Residency Training

Applicants must successfully complete residency at an accredited United States or Canadian training program.

International Medical Graduates

We welcome international medical graduates who hold a valid ECFMG certificate.
(This does not apply to Canadian graduates.)

Year of Graduation

Residency graduation should be within two years of the fellowship application.

Visas (if applicable)

Hartford Hospital sponsors the J-1 visa for candidates who are not permanent residents or U.S. citizens.

USMLE Exams

USMLE exams of Part I, II, and III (or equivalent) must be passed to begin fellowship positions.

All applicants must have completed an accredited residency training program in a relevant field (i.e. neurology, psychiatry, anesthesiology, family medicine, physical medicine, and rehabilitation, internal medicine) and have board eligibility in that field.

For the application, we request a cover letter outlining your career goals and interest in pursuing a fellowship with us (letter of intent), a minimum of three letters of recommendation from residency training faculty, a copy of your curriculum vitae with recent photograph, and a completed application form using the link below. Applications are to be submitted no later than October for the following academic year.

Download an Application Form