USC Headache Fellowship Program

USC Headache Fellowship Program

The USC Headache and Neuralgia Center is a tertiary care referral center serving a large geographical area in California, with a busy clinical practice, a multidisciplinary and translational approach to headache management. Our multidisciplinary program incorporates multiple subspecialties that are required for the comprehensive management of complex headache disorders, including anesthesiology/pain medicine, orofacial dentistry, neuroradiology, neurosurgery, pain psychology and complementary medicine. We provide a full range of headache and neuralgia treatment options, including nerve blocks, injections, infusions, radio frequency ablation and, in some cases, surgery. In addition, Lifestyle Redesign (LRD) program is used for chronic headaches which is an evidence-based approach that draws from a variety of preventive treatment strategies developed collaboratively with neurology and occupational therapy. In addition, our neurologists work closely with Physical Therapists who specialize in headache management to optimize headache management. We also offer an infusion center to treat headache patients with various intravenous infusions or injections along with urgent abortive medications.

This comprehensive approach to headache and facial pain provides a holistic approach to headache management and creates an outstanding learning environment for the one-year UCNS (United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties) accredited Fellowship program.

Program Director

Soma Sahai-Srivastava, MD

Dr Sahai has been a faculty member of the USC Department of Neurology since 2001. She is UCNS board-certified in Headache medicine and board-certified in both Neurology and Internal Medicine. Under her leadership, we have integrated monthly multidisciplinary meetings where patient cases are discussed with neuroradiology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and pain psychology. She has also organized symposiums on headache medicine. She is not only a member of the core neurology residency program committee in which she actively develops curriculum for the training program but is also the medical director of neurology ambulatory clinical services at Los Angeles General Medical Center. As Medical Director of Neurology ambulatory clinical services at the Los Angeles General Medical Center, and USC Faculty practice, she has been training medical students, residents, orofacial and pain fellows in headache medicine for over two decades. In addition, she organizes annual trips to Cambodia where she has established a global medicine neuroscience program for physicians and medical students.

Faculty

Curriculum of the Fellowship

Headache Outpatient Care

In this UCNS certified headache programs fellows train in an outpatient setting where patients above 9 years old are referred from regional and national base with a broad range of interesting, unusual, and refractory headache and facial pain disorders. Fellows learn the tools to diagnose, treat and educate patients with various headache and pain disorders utilizing infusion center, trigger point injections, nerve blocks, SPG (Sphenopalatine ganglion) blocks and Botox injections both in a tertiary center and an underserved headache clinic at Los Angeles General Medical Center. Fellows see over 200 new patients in the year in which the first 6 months faculty members review and oversee all cases and then fellows are allowed to practice independently. Fellows also have the unique opportunity to not only work with other pain providers but also physical therapy, occupational therapy, and pain psychology.

This is an entirely outpatient-based fellowship program, with no in-house call although fellows may rarely consult on refractory headache patients in the inpatient setting at Keck or Los Angeles General Medical Center.

Research Opportunities in Headache

The Headache Program is involved in clinical collaborative research projects and pilot studies. The fellow has protected time on a weekly basis for clinical or translational research. The research project should culminate in preparation of an abstract for presentation at a national or international meeting and eventual publication of a manuscript. The fellow is also expected to attend one national or regional headache meeting during the fellowship and deliver a neuroscience grand round presentation on headache disorders during the fellowship year.

How to Apply

For 2025-26 applicants you can send application documents directly to Asima Kachroo at Kachroo@usc.edu.

Documents:

• Current CV
• 3 Letters of Recommendations (one from your residency Program Director)
• Personal Statement
• USMLE/COMLEX scores

Soma Sahai, MD
Program Director, Headache Medicine Fellowship
sahai@usc.edu

For questions and information, contact fellowship coordinator –

Asima Kachroo
Email – Kachroo@usc.edu
Phone – (323) 442-0117

Eligibility Criteria

• The fellow must possess a current valid and unrestricted license to practice medicine in the United States or Canada or its territories.
• The fellow must be a graduate of a residency program in neurology or other specialties accredited by the ACGME or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC).
• The fellow must be board certified or eligible for certification in a primary ABMS or RCPSC specialty