Fellowship training

Jeffrey E. Escher; Arthur Feinberg; Myron Miller; Patricia Bloom; Cathryn Devons; Conn Foley; Howard J. Guzik; Gary Kennedy; Rosanne M. Leipzig; Jeffrey N. Nichols; Lidia Pousada; David Sutin

doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.1997.tb00994.x

Fellowship training

Jeffrey E. Escher, Arthur Feinberg, Myron Miller, Patricia Bloom, Cathryn Devons, Conn Foley, Howard J. Guzik, Gary Kennedy, Rosanne M. Leipzig, Jeffrey N. Nichols, Lidia Pousada, David Sutin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	118-119
Number of pages	2
Journal	Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Volume	45
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1997.tb00994.x
State	Published - 1997
Externally published	Yes

Access to Document

10.1111/j.1532-5415.1997.tb00994.x

Cite this

@article{9dddd7b0fa8743f487bb1bb4d20f4faa,

title = "Fellowship training",

author = "Escher, {Jeffrey E.} and Arthur Feinberg and Myron Miller and Patricia Bloom and Cathryn Devons and Conn Foley and Guzik, {Howard J.} and Gary Kennedy and Leipzig, {Rosanne M.} and Nichols, {Jeffrey N.} and Lidia Pousada and David Sutin",

note = "Funding Information: Not all programs have successfully sponsored concomitant laparoscopic fellowship and general surgery resident programs. Linn and colleagues, 26 from Northwestern University, described their experience of discontinuing their laparoscopic fellowship because of concerns about its adverse effect on their residency program. Although Hallowell and colleagues 24 concluded that fellowship and residency could coexist, they were obliged to decreased the number of fellows from 2 to 1 per year as bariatric case volumes declined. Therefore, each program must carefully evaluate its own circumstances and verify that it has sufficient case volume to support a fellowship program with a determined number of fellows without harming the residency training experience. Funding Information: Some leaders in surgery have raised concerns that these fellowships and others that do not fall under the umbrella of board certification are unregulated and lack oversight. 1,19,20 In 2004, the American Surgical Association Blue Ribbon Committee published a report on surgical education. They described subspecialty fellowship training as, “largely unregulated, unsupervised, nonuniform, and uncertified.” 30 At the time of this report, progress was already being made to correct many of the deficiencies cited. Laparoscopic fellowship programs act under the direction of the Fellowship Council (FC) established in 1997, initially known as the Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship Council. The initial goals of the FC were administrative in nature. They wanted to provide order to the application and match process and to properly define relationships with other organizations that were attempting to influence fellowship training. The ACS, ABS, Association of Program Directors in Surgery, and the RRC were all initially in opposition to the expansion of fellowships in MIS and advanced gastrointestinal surgery because of concerns that resident education would suffer and that the end result could lead to “franchises in gastrointestinal surgery.” 23 Despite the disapproval of these influential societies, MIS fellowships have continued to expand as the perceived need for training beyond residency has skyrocketed. The FC has been instrumental in providing leadership and structure to this process. 31 The goals of the FC have shifted from where they were initially. Their main focus now is to organize and promote the development of high-quality fellowship programs. 27 The FC first provided oversight and regulation of the match process for the 2004 academic year. The FC has grown significantly since its inception and now aids in the regulation of a wide variety of fellowship programs, including advanced gastrointestinal surgery, endoscopy, MIS, bariatric/metabolic, hepatobiliary, colorectal, and thoracic surgery. More than 30% of postresidency fellowship applications are now managed by the FC. 23 The FC has been involved in the accreditation of fellowships since 2004. Individual programs are required to be in compliance with established guidelines and to submit annual reports. Every 3 years reaccreditation must occur through a formal application, and site visits are currently required every 6 years. Additionally, the FC has been instrumental in establishing a formal curriculum for each type of fellowship, which has helped to ensure uniformity in the acquisition of knowledge and surgical skills for each of the subspecialized fellowship categories. ",

year = "1997",

doi = "10.1111/j.1532-5415.1997.tb00994.x",

language = "English",

volume = "45",

pages = "118--119",

journal = "Journal of the American Geriatrics Society",

issn = "0002-8614",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Fellowship training

AU - Escher, Jeffrey E.

AU - Feinberg, Arthur

AU - Miller, Myron

AU - Bloom, Patricia

AU - Devons, Cathryn

AU - Foley, Conn

AU - Guzik, Howard J.

AU - Kennedy, Gary

AU - Leipzig, Rosanne M.

AU - Nichols, Jeffrey N.

AU - Pousada, Lidia

AU - Sutin, David

N1 - Funding Information: Not all programs have successfully sponsored concomitant laparoscopic fellowship and general surgery resident programs. Linn and colleagues, 26 from Northwestern University, described their experience of discontinuing their laparoscopic fellowship because of concerns about its adverse effect on their residency program. Although Hallowell and colleagues 24 concluded that fellowship and residency could coexist, they were obliged to decreased the number of fellows from 2 to 1 per year as bariatric case volumes declined. Therefore, each program must carefully evaluate its own circumstances and verify that it has sufficient case volume to support a fellowship program with a determined number of fellows without harming the residency training experience. Funding Information: Some leaders in surgery have raised concerns that these fellowships and others that do not fall under the umbrella of board certification are unregulated and lack oversight. 1,19,20 In 2004, the American Surgical Association Blue Ribbon Committee published a report on surgical education. They described subspecialty fellowship training as, “largely unregulated, unsupervised, nonuniform, and uncertified.” 30 At the time of this report, progress was already being made to correct many of the deficiencies cited. Laparoscopic fellowship programs act under the direction of the Fellowship Council (FC) established in 1997, initially known as the Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship Council. The initial goals of the FC were administrative in nature. They wanted to provide order to the application and match process and to properly define relationships with other organizations that were attempting to influence fellowship training. The ACS, ABS, Association of Program Directors in Surgery, and the RRC were all initially in opposition to the expansion of fellowships in MIS and advanced gastrointestinal surgery because of concerns that resident education would suffer and that the end result could lead to “franchises in gastrointestinal surgery.” 23 Despite the disapproval of these influential societies, MIS fellowships have continued to expand as the perceived need for training beyond residency has skyrocketed. The FC has been instrumental in providing leadership and structure to this process. 31 The goals of the FC have shifted from where they were initially. Their main focus now is to organize and promote the development of high-quality fellowship programs. 27 The FC first provided oversight and regulation of the match process for the 2004 academic year. The FC has grown significantly since its inception and now aids in the regulation of a wide variety of fellowship programs, including advanced gastrointestinal surgery, endoscopy, MIS, bariatric/metabolic, hepatobiliary, colorectal, and thoracic surgery. More than 30% of postresidency fellowship applications are now managed by the FC. 23 The FC has been involved in the accreditation of fellowships since 2004. Individual programs are required to be in compliance with established guidelines and to submit annual reports. Every 3 years reaccreditation must occur through a formal application, and site visits are currently required every 6 years. Additionally, the FC has been instrumental in establishing a formal curriculum for each type of fellowship, which has helped to ensure uniformity in the acquisition of knowledge and surgical skills for each of the subspecialized fellowship categories.

PY - 1997

Y1 - 1997

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U2 - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1997.tb00994.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1997.tb00994.x

M3 - Letter

C2 - 8994502

AN - SCOPUS:0030636602

SN - 0002-8614

VL - 45

SP - 118

EP - 119

JO - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

JF - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

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