Stanford Neurosurgery Resident Life

Resident Wellness

Stanford Neurosurgery places resident well-being at a high-priority with a variety of outings and socials, and has a strong support network of co-residents, faculty, administrative staff, the Program Director and the Graduate Medical Education Office to help the transition to a new and challenging stage in life.

Physical Well-being

The Neurosurgery call room is often stocked with healthy snacks, in addition we provide a loaded meal card that can be used at the Stanford Market Square Cafeteria, Harvest Cafeteria in LPCH, Java Junction and the 7730 Welch Coffee kiosk.

Residents have access to The Arrillaga Outdoor Education and Recreation Center (AEORC), a 10 minute walk from the hospital with an outdoor pool, rock climbing wall, fitness center, and basketball courts; and a gym on the 4^th floor of the hospital in the GME office. Stanford Residents also receive a discounted rate at the Stanford Golf Course.

The Palo Alto surroundings has numerous hiking and walking trails: the Dish, Baylands Preserve, Arastradero Regional Preserve, or Foothills Park.

Residents are encouraged to schedule their dental and primary care appointments. If appointments cannot be scheduled outside clinical hours, the Program supports 12 hours per year for residents to attend health-related appointments.

Psychological Well-being

We support each resident’s psychological and emotional wellbeing with our resident mentor program. Each resident chooses their mentor to provide them guidance throughout their residency in wellbeing, professional career development, work-life balance, and research aspects. Residents meet with their mentors at least 3 times a year.

Counseling services are available as needed through the Stanford GME office and Stanford ombsudsman.

Social Well-being

The Program organizes social events at least once a month. Some of these social events have included dinners, happy hour, hikes, pilates, pick-up basketball games, volleyball, and full day trips.

Resident Well-being Events

Carmel, CA

The residents headed to Carmel for soccer on the beach, flag football, cornhole, and a hike through Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. And to top off a fun wellness day, they dunked our PD in the ocean!

American River Rafting

Our residents got together for another adventure! This time they rafted 15 miles down the South Fork of the American River.

Ropes Course Adventure

All our residents got together for adventure, fun and team bonding at Mount Hermon's Ropes Course.

West Coast Neurosurgery Games

Our residents participated in the 2018 and 2019 annual West Coast Neurosurgery Volleyball Games on the beach in Santa Monica! Residency programs all over the West Coast participate and the funds go the NREF to support resident research.

Barry’s Bootcamp

We take mental and physical wellness seriously, and that includes encouraging everyone to make time for exercise! Stanford Neurosurgery residents, faculty and nurses took over Barry's Bootcamp for a tough workout. Way to go!

Life Outside of the Stanford Hospital

Residents enjoy their days off in Bay Area, a haven for outdoor activities. The Northern California coastline, coastal mountains, San Francisco, and San Jose are within an hour of driving. Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks, ski areas around Lake Tahoe, Carmel, Big Sur, Napa and Sonoma wine country, the Marin Headlands, Point Reyes, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, and many other attractions are within easy driving distance. It is no wonder that people come to visit Northern California from all over the world. To live here is a great privilege.

Housing

It is recommended that junior residents live within 30 minutes of all the sites, including Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center. When looking for off campus housing, you can try expanding the search to include nearby cities such as Redwood City, Menlo Park, and Mountain View. These cities also have the benefit of being somewhat less expensive compared to Palo Alto.

For on campus housing, Stanford offers subsidized resident housing at Welch Road Apartments. This is across the street from the hospital and has 108 unites that range from studios to 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartments. These apartments are awarded using a lottery system. Applications should be included in registration packets or are available online; the lottery runs in early May of each year so be sure to submit the application early. For more information, contact the rental site manager at:

Resident Manager
1180 Welch Road, Apt. 816
Palo Alto, CA 94304
650-497-0101, Email: welchroad@stanford.edu

For off-campus housing, renting can be searched through Craigslist www.places4students.com, or the University Housing Office, and traditional realtor websites.

Transportation

All residents will need to have access to a car for transportation to/from work and in case they need to go into any of our hospital sites when on call. Parking at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center and the Palo Alto VA is complimentary. At Stanford, parking passes can be purchased through the transportation office. For those individuals who elect to bicycle or take public transportation, they are eligible to receive Clean Air Cash. More information on parking at Stanford can be found at http://transportation.stanford.edu