Kim James Burchiel, MD, FAANS was born in 1950 in Holyoke, Mass. His family moved to Redding, Calif., where Dr. Burchiel attended high school. His undergraduate education was at the University of California, Davis, majoring in biochemistry and genetics. He then went to medical school at the University of California, San Diego graduating in 1976. He completed his surgical internship at the UCLA/Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, Calif. and entered neurosurgical residency at the University of Washington under the leadership of Dr. Arthur A. Ward 1).