Dr. Patrick J. Kelly
I do not consider myself a researcher although I have done research of one type or another for over 36 years. Nor do I consider myself an educator even though I have trained residents and medical students throughout my career. I am a doctor. I believe that the primary and most important mission for a doctor is to take care patients. And if I train young doctors, it is to do what I do: take care of patients. And my research efforts have always endeavored to find methods to help us take care of patients better. This is what I believe. And this is what my colleagues believe.
In the Department of Neurosurgery at NYU our most important goal is to deliver outstanding patient care. The welfare and well being of patients is of paramount concern for each and every member of our Department. It is our mission to deliver better neurosurgical care than is available anywhere else in the world.
We employ the most up-to-date surgical methods. Members of our Department have developed many of them. In addition, each member of the Department has developed a unique expertise within specific areas: brain tumor, cerebrovascular surgery, epilepsy, spine surgery, movement disorder procedures, peripheral nerve, pediatric neurosurgery, and others. The more senior members of our Department have international reputations and treat patients from a wide referral area including Europe, the Middle East, and South America. However, we believe that each and every patient deserves the best care available irrespective of where they come from. The best interest of any patient is our only concern.
Neurosurgical care is a team effort. Each member of that team is important. Neurosurgical residents, young doctors in training, work with and learn their craft from master surgeons at Tisch (NYU) hospital. They refine their skills under supervision at our sister institutions: Bellevue Medical Center and the Manhattan Veterans Hospital. These young men and women learn our techniques and share our priorities: excellence in patient care is more important than any other concern. The majority of our trainees ultimately assume faculty positions at universities around the country and many have risen to prominence in their chosen subspecialties.
We are fortunate to have a loyal and experienced group of nurses - many of whom have been with us for several years. Their experience and expertise is not duplicated anywhere else in the city. They care for patients in a dedicated, state-of-the-art neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and on an adjoining modern floor that comprises private and semiprivate rooms. The team also includes general medical consultants, neuro-oncologists, neuro-interventionalists, intensivists, experienced social workers, physical and occupational therapists, language translators, and clergymen of all denominations. We care not only for our patients' medical needs but also support their social, rehabilitation, psychological and spiritual needs.
Finally, we support a research effort in order to continually improve our surgical techniques and improve our results. For us the most important factor is quality of a patient's life. We have found that less invasive methods, made possible by high technology, result in less morbidity, shorter hospital stays and a better quality of life than older more traditional methods. However, these methods while being minimally invasive must also be maximally effective. Surgical goals must be achieved: tumors must be removed, spines must be stable, vascular lesions must be cured, movement disorders must be ameliorated, and severed nerves must be repaired so that they can regenerate. And the patient should be satisfied with the result.
New York City in general, Manhattan in particular, is the most competitive medical marketplace in the world. Our patients are very sophisticated medically and demand the best. We do our best to give them the best: better neurosurgical care than they can get anywhere else.
Patrick J. Kelly, MD
Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery
Joseph Ransonhoff Professor of Neurosurgery
