The skills required to perform IONM are highly specialised and rare. However, trained people are in short supply forcing many NHS organisations to rely on expensive outsourced neuromonitoring services. We wish to help NHS colleagues address these issues by providing a means to train their own staff and therefore reduce outsourcing cost.
The Newcastle Clinical Skills Academy is delighted to offer this unique to the UK course in the theory, methodology and delivery of Intraoperative Neuromonitoring (IONM) in collaboration with specialists from the Center for Electro Neurodiagnostics (CEN) – a US-based education and training organisation.
A cross Atlantic collaborative, this programme offers a rare opportunity to acquire the requisite knowledge, skills and experience to succeed in a rapidly growing, life-changing clinical specialty with a focus on neurophysiological monitoring during corrective spinal surgery.
Our IONM course – totalling up to 9 months – involves seven weeks of didactic teaching, including one day of simulation training, two weeks of hands-on experience involving between four and six spinal deformity cases hosted at Newcastle Hospitals followed by a number of months of continued training through assessments in your work-based operating theatres.
The typical duration to complete all requirements of this comprehensive programme is approximately six to nine months culminating in a Certificate of Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring with a focus on Spinal Deformity.
Newcastle Hospitals is home to one of the UK’s leading centres of excellence for neurosciences with a global reputation for specialising in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the brain, spine, nervous system and neuro-genetics.
As well as neurosurgery, neurology and neuroradiology, neurosciences encompasses neurophysiology – a rapidly evolving field that uses diagnostic and monitoring modalities for the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) allow highly skilled members of the healthcare science workforce to assess the function of vital neural structures during surgical procedures which present risk to the peripheral nervous system and spinal cord, ensuring they are conducted as safely and complication-free as possible.
Valued members of the operating theatre team, they interpret repeated electrophysiological measurements, sharing their findings in real-time with the surgical and anaesthetic teams to support their complex decision-making, which can significantly influence the outcome of surgery.
As Newcastle’s spinal specialists have years of experience using IONM during scoliosis corrective surgery, we are proud to offer this unique six to nine month programme in collaboration with US experts from the Center for Electro Neurodiagnostics.
This course supports a key priority in the NHS to upskill staff, reducing the need to rely on outsourcing expertise from third parties and the considerable associated spend, and more importantly, optimising safer surgery for patients.
It provides delegates with the high quality, cutting edge knowledge and tools necessary to ensure a successful and satisfying, professionally recognised career in IONM.
Dr James Blake, Clinical Scientist and Head of Clinical Measurement for Northern Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering at the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust leads the programme in partnership with the Center for Electro Neurodiagnostics.
It is facilitated by a leading team of highly qualified surgical neurophysiologists who have extensive experience monitoring thousands of routine and complex surgeries.
This exclusive programme provides students with a deep and broad knowledge base of IONM using a unique blend of virtual learning, and hands on practical training in one of Newcastle’s state-of-the-art simulation centres.
The online teaching is followed up by first-hand experience of live cases under the supervision of a highly qualified clinical scientist in a spinal operating theatre at Newcastle city centre’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.
The programme focuses on the following key components:
The implementation of performance standards adjusted to the work environment, clinical setting and patient will also be covered in this course.
After successfully completing this course, delegates will:
This course is ideal for:
We can provide advice as to how you can seek funding support for this course and put you in touch with the most appropriate Healthcare Science Commissioner according to where you are located.
To successfully complete this course, you will access online course materials including the course itinerary, handouts, PowerPoint slides, and other resources that will be made available to you.
28 April 2025 – 30 May 2025 – via CEN virtual learning environment
20 June 2025 – Simulation Suite in the Freeman Hospital’s Education Centre
The two weeks of hands-on experience hosted at Newcastle Hospitals will be arranged on the Simulation Study Day.
Please complete the form below and return it to [email protected], once approved you will be provided with an approval reference number which is to be provided when making your booking.
If you are employed by Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, you can use the coupon code NUTH at the checkout to make a provisional booking and you will need to arrange access to in-house development funding. Your booking will remain provisional until your request has been validated with a funding/study leave reference.
At the point of booking an online card payment is required. If you are to be funded by your employer an invoice can be requested by using the coupon code Invoice.
Please see Coupons for further information relating to coupon codes and how to use them at checkout.
