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Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship

Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship

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The Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is a one-year, ACGME-accredited program that admits one fellow per year.

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Program Details

The Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship provides clinical exposure to the full range of disease of the colon, rectum and anus. 

The Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, part of the Department of Surgery at Penn State College of Medicine, has a strong interest in inflammatory bowel disease, and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center serves as a regional referral center for all patients with IBD. Furthermore, the division offers state-of-the-art sphincter-preserving surgery for rectal cancer and treatment for complex anorectal disease.

The majority of the abdominal cases are performed with minimally invasive access (standard laparoscopy, single site laparoscopy, robotic surgery) and for selective rectal cases, transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEMS) or transanal minimally invasive surgery (TAMIS) are used. The expected annual volume for each fellow is approximately 200 to 300 abdominal (60 percent or more are laparoscopic, 10 percent of which are robotic) and 150 to 250 anorectal cases.

The fellow will be exposed to more than 35 robotic cases per year. Transanal endoscopic microsurgery and transanal minimally invasive surgery are routinely performed for rectal polyps or early cancers. The service performs both fiber-optic and rigid proctosigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy. The fellow will have the opportunity to perform 150 to 200 colonoscopies and 100 sigmoidoscopies. Furthermore, the fellow is expected to see approximately 500 new patients in clinic; 35 percent of the cases are IBD, 35 percent colorectal cancer and 30 percent benign diseases (diverticulitis, polyps, anorectal etc.). The program’s goal is to train individuals to become safe, well-rounded specialists in colon and rectal surgery and active members of the American Society of Colorectal Surgery (ASCRS).

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To Apply Expand answer

The Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship uses the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).

Applicants must submit the following through ERAS:

  • Application form
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Three or more letters of recommendation
  • Medical school transcript
  • USMLE scores for parts I, II and III
  • Personal statement
  • Medical school dean’s letter
  • Photograph
Faculty Expand answer
Current Fellows Expand answer
Past Fellows Expand answer
About Penn State Health Expand answer

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Penn State Health

Penn State Health is a multi-hospital health system serving patients and communities across 29 counties of Pennsylvania. Its mission is to improve health through patient care, research, education and community outreach.

In December 2017, the system partnered with Highmark Health to facilitate creation of a value-based, community care network in the region. The shared goal of Highmark and Penn State Health is to ensure patients in the community are within:

  • 10 minutes of a Penn State Health primary care provider
  • 20 minutes of Penn State Health specialty care
  • 30 minutes of a Penn State Health acute care facility

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Penn State Health Children’s Hospital (left), Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (center) and Penn State Cancer Institute (right)

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

500 University Dr., Hershey, Pa., 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)

  • The health system’s 647-bed flagship teaching and research hospital
  • The only medical facility in Pennsylvania accredited as both an adult and a pediatric Level I (highest-level) trauma center
  • Dedicated surgical, neuroscience, cardiovascular, trauma and medical intensive care units
  • Accredited Life Lion critical-care transport providing more than 1,100 helicopter and approximately 750 ground ambulance transports per year
  • More than 1,300 faculty members and more than 650 residents and fellows
  • Approximately 29,000 admissions, 73,000 emergency department visits, 1.1 million outpatient visits and 33,000 surgical procedures annually
  • Designated as a Magnet hospital since 2007

Learn more about Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Penn State Health Children’s Hospital

600 University Dr., Hershey, Pa. 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)

  • An eight-story, 263,000-square-foot-facility built in 2013 and expanded in 2020
  • 146 licensed pediatric beds, 18 acute care beds and a 56-bed neonatal intensive care unit
  • Level IV (highest-level) neonatal intensive care unit
  • Level I quaternary (highest-level) pediatric intensive care unit
  • Level I (highest-level) pediatric trauma center designation
  • Intermediate care unit
  • Dedicated pediatric operating rooms
  • More than 150,000 pediatric outpatient visits and approximately 5,000 pediatric patient discharges annually

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Wellness Initiatives Expand answer

Wellness, including emotional, spiritual, social and physical health, is a crucial component to training and to becoming a professional, compassionate and resilient physician. Self-care is a skill which must be continually practiced and reinforced. Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health are committed to addressing wellness among residents and fellows, with multiple resources readily available.

Institutional resources

Graduate medical education resources

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Institutional Resources

Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine celebrate, embrace and support the diversity of all patients, faculty, staff, students and trainees.

Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

In keeping with this, Penn State Health has an active Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with various programs, networks and resource groups, including:

  • Talks and lectures on diversity, equity and inclusion through the Inclusion Academy
  • Regular events on topics such as eradicating racism and creating a culture of inclusiveness
  • Many Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGs), including:
    • Disability Business Employee Resource Group
    • Interfaith Business Employee Resource Group
    • LGBTQ+ Business Employee Resource Group
    • Military and Veterans Business Employee Resource Group
    • Multicultural Business Employee Resource Group
    • NextGen Business Employee Resource Group

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Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education

The vision at Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health is to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they will need to provide culturally excellent health care and research for an increasingly diverse U.S. population. The Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education was formed to help meet that goal.

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Office for a Respectful Learning Environment

In addition, the institution does not tolerate discrimination, biases, microaggression, harassment or learner mistreatment of any kind, and any concerns are immediately addressed by the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment.

Learn more about the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment

Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows
The Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows (NURF) is a group of diverse residents and fellows representing all specialties. NURF’s goal is to promote cultural diversity in the residency programs through community involvement, mentorship with diverse faculty, professional networking and support for the recruitment of diverse medical students into the residency programs.

NURF is sponsored by the Penn State College of Medicine Graduate Medical Education Office and the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

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Contact Us Expand answer

Mailing Address

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery
500 University Dr.
P.O. Box 850
Hershey, PA 17033

General Contact Information

Phone: 717-531-5164

Fax: 717-531-0646

Curriculum Details

Rotation Overview Expand answer

Rotations

The Colon and Rectal Surgery service is divided into two teams, the blue team and the white team.

The Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow will rotate services every six weeks, alternating with the chief General Surgery resident, giving the Colon and Rectal fellow six months on each service in total. While on each service, the Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow will be responsible for the daily care of their assigned attending’s inpatients, participate in clinic with the assigned attending and assist in the operating room.

There are four General Surgery residents assigned to the service on a rotating basis: a chief resident, a second-year resident and two interns. The General Surgery residents rotate on the Colon and Rectal Surgery service for three months at a time, and will spend six weeks on each rotation.

At no time will both the chief General Surgery resident and the Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow be assigned to the same team. The junior residents on the service (second-year residents and interns) will work with both teams.

Operative cases will be assigned to the chief General Surgery resident and the Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow by service.

Certain “index” cases, such as sphincter reconstruction and resection of presacral tumors, will be assigned to the Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow regardless of the team they are on.

General Rotation Schedule

Sample Weekly Schedules

Blue rotation

  • Monday: Operating room
  • Tuesday: Academic
  • Wednesday: Clinic
  • Thursday: Operating room
  • Friday: Operating room

White rotation

  • Monday: Operating room
  • Tuesday: Operating room
  • Wednesday: Operating room
  • Thursday: Operating room
  • Friday: Clinic
Fellow Responsibilities Expand answer

There is a full complement of residents and medical students on the Colon and Rectal Surgery service. The Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow will be part of the team and interact with the residents and medical students on a daily basis. 

The fellow will be expected to assist in the daily care of patients and teach the junior residents the same. They will also be expected to provide formal and informal teaching sessions to the residents and medical students on the service.

The Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow will have no in-house call responsibilities. They will be expected to share home backup call for the in-house junior residents with the chief General Surgery resident assigned to the service. The fellow will also be expected to alternate weekend call, including patient rounds, with the chief General Surgery resident.

Three weeks of vacation are provided per year, with an additional five days of CME/education time that may be approved at the discretion of the program director.

Collaboration Expand answer

The Colon and Rectal Surgery service works closely with other services in the hospital, including gynecologic oncology, urology, oncology, radiation oncology and especially gastroenterology. Not only do the services coordinate care of the patients, but there are several interdisciplinary conferences among the groups, such as IBD conference and GI tumor board.

In addition, representatives from many of these services will provide lectures to the Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow.

Through sharing of patients, lectures and conference interactions, Colon and Rectal Surgery fellows will gain a broad multidisciplinary approach to the care of patients. In addition to close interaction with other services in the hospital, the Colon and Rectal Surgery service maintains a close relationship with the enterostomal therapists. Their assistance in taking care of patients with ostomies is invaluable. They regularly attend the division’s preoperative conference so that they can be involved in patient care from the beginning.

In addition to the clinical staff, there is a full-time basic science research staff consisting of one PhD, two postdocs, one resident, one clinical research fellow and three research technicians.

Colon and Rectal Surgery Conferences Expand answer

All of these conferences are mandatory for the Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow.

Pre-Operative Case Conference

Every Wednesday, 7 to 8 a.m.

All the operative cases for the following week are discussed, including indications for surgery, workup and pathophysiology. Pertinent studies such as colonoscopies, CT scans, barium studies and pathology will be reviewed.

GI Tumor Board

Last Friday of the month, 7 to 8 a.m.

Interesting/complex patients with GI cancers (primarily colon and rectal cancers) are presented and discussed in a multidisciplinary conference. In attendance are surgeons, gastroenterologists, pathologists, radiologists, oncologists and radiation oncologists. The cases are presented by the Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow and the General Surgery residents.

Inflammatory Disease Center

Every Wednesday, 3 to 4 p.m.

This is an interesting case conference run by the Department of Medicine’s Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. At each conference, a surgical case is presented. The fellow will be responsible for half of these presentations; they will also be expected to attend the conference the other weeks when the topic of the case being presented by the GI service is appropriate.

Colon and Rectal Didactic Series

Every Friday, 7 to 8 a.m.

The Colon and Rectal Didactic Conference is designed to cover all aspects of colon and rectal surgery. The Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow and the chief General Surgery resident will be required to give one lecture every three months. Topics will be assigned. There will be lecturers from outside the department to cover the following topics:

  • Radiology of the colon and rectum
  • CT scans
  • Fluoroscopic exams
  • Pathology of the colon and rectum
  • Cancer and polyps
  • IBD and miscellaneous
  • GI medicine
  • Medical management of IBD
  • Medical management of constipation
  • Oncology
  • Medical treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer
  • Radiation for rectal cancer
  • Surgical management of liver metastasis
  • Anesthesia for colon and rectal surgery
  • Aspects of general anesthesia
  • Local and regional anesthesia
  • Pediatric colon and rectal surgery
  • Imperforate anus
  • Hirschsprung’s disease

The rest of the conferences will be given by the Colon and Rectal Surgery faculty.

Colon and Rectal Journal Club

Every other month

Colon and Rectal Journal Club will be held four times per year (every other month). Two to four current articles relating to colon and rectal surgery will be discussed. The Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow and the chief General Surgery resident on the service will present the articles.

General Surgery Conferences Expand answer

All of these conferences are mandatory for the Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow unless otherwise stated.

Morbidity and Mortality

Every Wednesday, 5 to 6 p.m.

The Colon and Rectal Surgery fellow will present the morbidities and mortalities from the colon and rectal service at this conference. In addition to providing the details of the case, they will be required to discuss the teaching points and present a pertinent literature review.

Grand Rounds

Every Thursday, 5 to 6 p.m.

Journal Club

One Thursday a month, 7 to 9 a.m.

This program is required only when the subject material is appropriate to Colon and Rectal Surgery. Optional for other topics.

Other Conferences Expand answer

Core Competencies

Monthly

These conferences are organized by the Office of Graduate Medical Education. Learn more about these lectures here.

Colon and Rectal Lab Meeting

Every Friday, 9 to 10 a.m.

Ongoing basic science research projects in the Colon and Rectal Lab are discussed.

Surgical Research Seminar

Every Wednesday, noon to 1 p.m.

Research being performed in the Department of Surgery is presented.

Fellow Honors and Recognitions

Resident/Fellow Research Day Presentations Expand answer

The annual Resident/Fellow Research Day is held each year (with exception of during the COVID-19 pandemic) on and around the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center campus.

The intent of the event is to provide an opportunity for residents and fellows to showcase their research accomplishments to their peers in other clinical departments, as well as their colleagues in the basic sciences.

Learn more about Resident/Fellow Research Day here.

Previous presentations from the Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship are listed here.

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