Charles Hodge Neurosurgeon: Research Efforts

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon is an accomplished and highly respected neurosurgeon who spent thirty four years in the Department of Neurosurgery at the New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. He was head of that department for nineteen years. For many years, Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon was also listed in America's Top Doctors.

"Nationally, my thrust has been the development of research efforts in the national and international neurosurgical community," he says. "Of the many organizations I have belonged to professionally, my work on the American Board of Neurological Surgeons for six years, and for The Society of Neurological Surgeons for many years culminating as its president were most important and satisfying."

As Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon knows, the Society of Neurological Surgeons is the oldest neurosurgical society in the world. Its membership is comprised of academic department chairs, residency program directors, and other key individuals within the neurological community. Membership in the Society is limited to two hundred active members, although there are many senior, inactive and honorary members.

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon is currently the Chief Medical Officer for vCases, an Ann Arbor, Michigan based startup. "My current position with vCases approaches to the huge problem of diagnostic errors in medicine," he says. "We are developing an online patient care experience for students, residents and practicing physicians that educates using real life patient evaluation problems based on the proven techniques used in flight simulators." He says that the program can be used for training and evaluation by medical schools, medical organizations, insurers, and organizations that are interested in reducing the number of diagnostic errors, and in medical training.

Charles Hodge Neurosurgeon: Neurosurgery Training

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, spent thirty-four years in the Department of Neurosurgery in Syracuse, at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University. For nineteen of those years he was the Chair of a large neurosurgery training program there. His research during those years centered on pain mechanisms, cortical function plasticity and recovery from brain injury, and the use of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for difficult brain tumors.

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, developed cerebral bypass surgery in Upstate New York. He also contributed to the development of the neurologic navigational systems used to make cranial surgery safer and more effective. "I also started the MRI group that used that technology for localizing areas of brain function," he recalls. "I was responsible for training several dozen young neurosurgeons who are now working in areas throughout the United States."

During his years at the medical school in Syracuse, Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, was involved in many university efforts, including the redevelopment of its MD and Ph.D. program. He was also the chair of the local practice group for many years. While he was there, Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon also helped lay the foundation for the University-based practices to become more competitive, by owning and operating a number of practice sites.

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, is a native of New Jersey, where he was born and raised. He attended Princeton University where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry in 1963. He went on to medical school at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, did his surgical internship at Presbyterian Hospital in New York,  a year of surgical residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, and his Neurological Residency at the Health Science Center in Syracuse where, he said later, he found a home, returning there in 1969 for five years of additional training before joining its faculty.

Charles Hodge Neurosurgeon: A Simulated Encounter

Charles Hodge Neurosurgeon

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, received his certification from the American Board of Neurological Surgeons in 1977. By then he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Health Science Center at the State University of New York in Syracuse.

The following years saw a steady progression within the Department, culminating in 1988 with his being named the Department Chair. Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon held that position for nineteen years, finally retiring in 2007.

But retirement for Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon did not mean playing golf and wondering what to do with all his spare time. After practicing with a neurological group in Binghamton, New York for a year, he was recruited to help the neurosurgical training program at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, where he stayed until 2011. During this time, Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon and his wife Catherine fulfilled a lifelong dream by sailing their forty-four foot sloop from New England to the Chesapeake Bay and then, with the Caribbean 1500, the longest-running ocean crossing rally in North America. They sailed from the Chesapeake to Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, where they spent the winter before sailing 1200 miles back to New England.

Today, Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon is the Chief Medical Officer with vCases, a startup company that he founded with several other physicians. vCases is an innovative approach to what he calls "the huge problem" of diagnostic errors in medicine. "We are developing an online patient care experience for students, residents and practicing physicians" that simulates a real-world doctor-patient encounter. Participants in this experience, says Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, will interview, examine and test patients who are complaining of a wide variety of symptoms and have a variety of diseases.

Charles Hodge Neurosurgeon: High Quality Experience

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon spent many years as head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. Looking back at those years, he says that what made the medical training there unique was its emphasis on research and problem solving.

"I offer extensive high quality experience in medical education and research focused on neurosurgery," says Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon. "I view my greatest achievements to have been in education in training young neurosurgeons who provide excellent, knowledgeable and compassionate neurosurgical care to the community in which they practice."

One of the mainstays of the Syracuse program, says Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, was its emphasis on a fundamental understanding of basic research techniques. "We provided excellence in teaching, patient care, and contributions to new knowledge," he says today.

"In my retired career, I have carried these ideas forward with an educational startup company, vCases." vCases is an Ann Arbor, Michigan company that delivers simulated patient situations to medical students and professionals via the Internet, which Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon describes as a new and more immersed type of online educational experience. The objective of the training is to decrease the number of misdiagnosed cases, which are a significant contributor to the number of penalty payouts made by insurance companies, which amounted to some thirty-eight billion dollars over a twenty five period that ended in 2010, according to Johns Hopkins researchers.

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, is also spending his retirement years sailing a forty-four foot sloop with his wife. The couple also enjoys sampling fine wines and staying close with their children and their grandchildren.

Charles Hodge Neurosurgeon: A Home In Syracuse

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, received his medical training at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York, where he did his surgical internship, and at the Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, where he did a year of surgical residency. He did his Neurosurgical residency at the Health Science Center at the State University of New York in Syracuse, and was an Honorary Clinical Assistant at The London Hospital in White Chapel, London over a six month period in 1974 and 1975.

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, says he "found a home" in Syracuse and returned there to join its staff following his time in England. The ensuing years saw a lot of academic advancement, culminating in his appointment as Professor and Chair of the neurosurgery department. He continued as Chair until 2007, years that saw much accomplishment. After resigning in 2007 he practiced with the neurosurgical group in Binghamton, New York for one year, from 2009-10. 

At that point Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon was recruited to help with the neurosurgical training program at the University of Maryland in Baltimore and worked there training residents from 2010 until 2011. He and his wife Catherine had made Martha's Vineyard their home in 2009. They fulfilled a lifelong dream by sailing their 44 foot sloop from New England to the Chesapeake and then, with the Caribbean 1500, from the Chesapeake to Tortola where they spent the winter before sailing the 1200 miles back to New England.

Today, Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, is the Chief Medical Officer at vCases, an online medical training simulation system for medical students and professionals.

Charles Hodge Neurosurgeon: An Effective Neurosurgeon

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, spent many years at the State University of New York in the Department of Neurosurgery. "I was best known locally in Syracuse as an effective neurosurgeon, and was listed in America's Top Doctors for many years," he says. "Nationally my thrust has been the development of research and educational efforts in the national and international neurosurgical community."

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, has belonged to many professional organizations during his long and productive career. "My work on the American Board of Neurological Surgeons for six years, and for The Society of Neurological Surgeons for many years, culminating in its president, were most important and satisfying," he says today. "I received a number of awards including the Distinguished Service Award from The Society of Neurological Surgeons."

For thirty four years, Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, was a member of the neurosurgery department in Syracuse at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University. "I served for nineteen years as Chairman of the large neurosurgery training program," he says. "While there, my research efforts revolved around pain mechanisms, cortical function, plasticity and recovery from brain injury, and the use of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for difficult brain tumors and some pain syndromes. I was instrumental in developing cerebral bypass surgery in Upstate New York as well as developing the neurologic navigational systems used to make cranial surgery safer and more effective."

Charles Hodge, Neurosurgeon, also started the MRI group that used that technology for localizing areas of brain function using function MRI (fMRI) techniques. He was responsible for training several dozen young neurosurgeons who are now working in areas throughout the United States.