E-Fellowship Programme

ESMINT offers e-Fellowships to eligible* ESMINT members who are accredited to independently perform neurointerventional procedures. This innovative programme is made possible through a generous educational grant from our industry partners.

Update: The programme kicked off on 3rd April 2025.

What is an e-Fellowship?

The 6-month e-Fellowship programme provides ESMINT Members with the opportunity to interact directly with an ESMINT Mentor and remotely view neurointerventional procedures that are of interest to them.

Key Features:

One-on-One Mentorship: Individual discussions between the mentor and the e-Fellow, allowing tailored guidance.
Live-Streamed Procedures: Direct communication with the treating physician during live-streamed interventions, supported by Tegus Medical technology.
Joint Sessions: Collaborative learning experiences where all e-Fellows can observe, with one actively interacting with the mentor while others engage via chat.

The goal of the e-Fellowship programme is to expose young neurointerventionalists to the breadth of neurointerventional procedures performed by highly experienced practitioners of neurointervention who are members of ESMINT.

Fellows are exposed to all aspects of interventional neuroradiology including a broad range of vascular interventions – treatment of acute ischemic stroke, cerebral aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations of the brain, and congenital cerebral and spinal malformations.

It was a privilege to be one of the first people in this revolutionary program in which I was able to actively participate in neurointerventional cases from different angiosuites across Europe. It opened my eyes and gave me a huge push forward in learning and comprehensive neurointervention as a whole. It was literally an otherworldly experience to stand beside (even though virtually) some of the greatest and forward-thinking neurointerventionalist today. With this program that famous quote by Isaac Newton: ” If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon shoulders of giants” really came to life, metaphorically and literally ?

ESMINT e-Fellow Vedran Župančić, Zagreb, Croatia

Who can apply for the e-Fellowship?

The e-Fellowship is open to all eligible ESMINT members who are accredited to independently perform neurointerventional procedures.

The criteria of eligibility are:

Licensed Physicians
ESMINT Members*
Born in 1976 or younger and less than 5 yrs practicing in neurointervention
At least 12 months training in interventional neuroradiology / endovascular neurosurgery (including diagnostic neuroangiography)
Working in a hospital with neuro facilities (INR center, neurosurgery, neurology, stroke unit) in geographical Europe
Adequate language skills for the participating mentor suite

Selection of the e-Fellowship applicants will be performed first by the EYMINT Committee, and then by the participating mentor sides. Fellows will be chosen by the mentor sites according to language and areas of interest as outlined in the application.

This e-Fellowship was made possible by a generous educational grant from our industry partners.

*If you are not yet an ESMINT member, please apply now: join ESMINT or renew your membership

Scientific Evaluation

Please find below the abstract for an article published in Clinical Neuroradiology, Volume 33, pages 137–145, (2023).

Click here to read the full article.

Background

Remote access of trainees to training centers via video streaming (tele-observership, e-fellowship) emerges as an alternative to acquire knowledge in endovascular interventions. Situational awareness is a summary term that is also used in surgical procedures for perceiving and understanding the situation and projecting what will happen next. A high situational awareness would serve as prerequisite for meaningful learning success during tele-observerships. We hypothesized that live perception of the angiographical procedures using streaming technology is feasible and sufficient to gain useful situational awareness of the procedure.

Methods

During a European tele-observership organized by the European Society of Minimally Invasive Neurological Therapy (ESMINT) and its trainee association (EYMINT), a total of six neurointerventional fellows in five countries observed live cases performed by experienced neurointerventionalists (mentors) in six different high-volume neurovascular centers across Europe equipped with live-streaming technology (Tegus Medical, Hamburg, Germany). Cases were prospectively evaluated during a 12-month period, followed by a final questionnaire after completion of the course.

Results

A total of 102/161 (63%) cases with a 1:1 allocation of fellow and mentor were evaluated during a 12-month period. Most frequent conditions were ischemic stroke (27.5%), followed by embolization of unruptured aneurysms (25.5%) and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) (15.7%). A high level of situational awareness was reported by fellows in 75.5% of all cases. After finishing the program, the general improvement of neurointerventional knowledge was evaluated to be extensive (1/6 fellows), substantial (3/6), and moderate (2/6). The specific fields of improvement were procedural knowledge (6/6 fellows), technical knowledge (3/6) and complication management (2/6).

Conclusion

Online streaming technology facilitates location-independent training of complex neurointerventional procedures through high levels of situational awareness and can therefore supplement live hands-on-training. In addition, it leads to a training effect for fellows with a perceived improvement of their neurointerventional knowledge.

Mentors of the e-Fellowship

Our mentors are esteemed leaders in the field of neurointervention, offering a wealth of knowledge and experience. They will talk you through their live cases, providing invaluable insights.

e-Fellowship Mentor Dr. Vladimir Kalousek.

Project team of the e-Fellowship programme

A passionate and experienced team is behind the e-Fellowship Programme, ensuring its success and providing seamless support to participants. The team members include: