Andrew Sanford Koivuniemi MD PhD (He/Him)

Summary

• Career Plans:
  
  My wife (Dr. Kelly Grott, chronic pain fellow at Northwestern University) and I are currently looking for the ideal setting and partners to establish a fully integrated, goal centered pain and spine practice.
  
  We refer to our approach as "goal centered" because we believe that success in pain is more than a number in a chart or films in an EMR. We are dedicated to collaborating with out patients identify their most important life goals. The rest of the care (therapy, medication, interventional pain, and/or surgery) are pursued with the patient's active participation and leadership in order to accomplish those goals.
  
  Current Training:
  
  I am in my final year of training, focusing on refining and advancing my general neurosurgery training while also pursuing my passion for medical ethics. To this end, I am completing the Fairbanks Clinical Ethics Fellowship (20% time commitment). This involves a weekly day long didactics with subject experts, assigned weekly readings, one month on 24/7 clinical ethics call and a final research project(s). For my first project I am studying informed consent in pediatric neurosurgery.