About the fellowship

The Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship at OHSU is one year in length and is for applicants who have completed a residency in general surgery. The program is unique due to the breadth of training across three different hospitals/practice models and one-on-one experience with faculty. We aim to graduate a fellow who is competent to treat a wide variety of problems of the colon and rectum and who is prepared for the independent practice of colon and rectal surgery. Individual weekly meetings with the Program Director are designed to ready the fellow to undergo the certification process by the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery.

The colorectal fellow rotates at three different hospitals (including Kaiser Permanente, The University, and a multispecialty private practice). The fellow will be exposed to both straightforward and complex patients within these 3 tertiary referral practices. The faculty, with diverse training backgrounds, will expose the fellow to several approaches to each clinical problem.

The fellow will perform many office based procedures including sclerotherapy and infrared treatment of hemorrhoids with a senior colorectal surgeon. Anal manometry and endoanal ultrasound (both 2- and 3- dimensional) will be taught by colorectal faculty.

Transanal endoscopic microsurgery will be taught in the private practice setting. The fellow will have extensive experience with various laparoscopic approaches in benign and malignant colorectal disease. The fellow will have a solid experience with both diagnostic and therapeutic colonsocopy, in a simulation center and with patients.

Weekly didactic sessions with the Program Director allow for formal teaching, early feedback, and close mentorship. The fellow will also have opportunities for formal didactics with radiations oncology. The Portland Citywide Colorectal Journal Club facilitates healthy debate between colorectal and general surgeons across the city.

The fellow will have protected time and access to a Department of Surgery Statistician and Research Coordinator (for help with IRB approval) for his/her research project.

Our fellow also has full access to our state-of-the-art surgical simulation facility, VirtuOHSU.

Anal manometry, surface electromyography, and 2-D/3-D endoanal ultrasound (for anal sphincter integrity and rectal cancer staging) will be taught by colorectal faculty.

In University, HMO, and private practice settings, the fellow will follow patients both pre-op and post-op and will assume primary responsibility for diagnostic work-up and treatment plans. The fellow will perform many office-based procedures including sclerotherapy and infrared treatments of hemorrhoids with a senior colorectal surgeon.

The colorectal fellow will lead the surgical team and teach general surgery residents and medical students. The fellow will be expected to participate in teaching opportunities during the daily care of surgical patients.

Conferences include weekly multidisciplinary GI oncology conferences, weekly formal teaching conferences with the Program Director, weekly Grand Rounds, weekly general surgery and monthly colorectal Morbidity and Mortality Conference, and quarterly Portland Citywide Colorectal Journal Club. The fellow will also have opportunities for formal didactics with radiation oncology.

As a reference, the 2016-2017 fellow performed approximately 188 anorectal procedures (including 27 transanal endoscopic microsurgeries), 153 diagnostic/therapeutic colonoscopies, 226 abdominal cases, and 97 laparoscopic resections.

Applications are only accepted through ERAS. Qualified applicants will be contacted for an interview in the late summer/early fall. The match takes place through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP).

The salary is dependent upon PGY level; the 2017-2018 range was $69,100 to $74,300.

There are no outside rotations or research year in this fellowship.

The submission of an abstract to the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons is a requirement for graduation from this program. The colorectal fellow will have 1/2 day per week that will be protected for clinical research.

The fellow will attend the annual American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) meeting, a Transanal Endoscopic Microsurgery (TEM) course in Florida, a robotic course in California, a sacral nerve simulation course in Ohio, a laparoscopic colectomy course in Ohio, and any other national or regional meeting at which he or she may be presenting, e.g., Northwest Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (NWSCRS).