Roger Williams Medical Center

Providence, Rhode Island
Program Director: Abdul Saied Calvino, MD, MPH
Associate Program Director: Steve Kwon, MD, MPH

The Division of Surgical Oncology at the Roger Williams Medical Center and Adele R. Decof Cancer Center offers a two-year Clinical Fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology. The program was initiated in July 1988 and was approved by the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) in 1995 as one of the original SSO approved programs. We were one of the first to receive ACGME accreditation in 2013. It is directed towards candidates who have completed an ACGME approved general surgery residency and who are board eligible for the American Board of Surgery general surgery certification. The principal program objective is to develop surgical oncologists who possess a mastery of the technical and cognitive aspects of our specialty. Intensive experience in research is encouraged during your fellowship. We accept one fellow per year to the program. Fellows function as junior faculty members in collaboration with the attending staff. Fellows also participate in medical student and resident education.

The two-year training program emphasizes a strong clinical experience in advanced, state-of-the-art oncologic surgical techniques and multidisciplinary clinical decision-making. The Division of Surgical Oncology has a major interest in the surgery of advanced malignancies including primary and secondary hepatobiliary, pancreatic, colorectal, head and neck, breast, gastroesophageal, endocrine, and soft tissue tumors. The Divisions of Surgical Oncology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology and Interventional Radiology participate in the multi-disciplinary management of our patients. A multidisciplinary Geriatric Oncology program and Community Outreach and Navigation Program are a growing component of our clinical and educational programs. Fellows will gain exposure to ongoing trials through involvement in patient accrual and management during the treatment period in addition to learning investigational requirements of an institutional review board. We also maintain a tissue repository, which affords opportunities to perform novel and innovative research projects.

Didactics

The two-year didactic teaching program covers the essential principles of surgical oncology while emphasizing important publications that influence our practice patterns. Broad areas that are also covered in the didactic program include basic tumor biology, biostatistics, ethics, protocol writing, and grant development. A weekly conference session includes a journal review, indications conference, morbidity and mortality, and research project discussions. The program maintains an electronic library of critical research papers. The fellow is expected to produce a minimum of one manuscript per year and is encouraged to write and defend a treatment protocol before the IRB Committee. Support is provided for fellows to attend meetings for abstract presentations. Dedicated mentorship is provided for clinical research projects, presentations, and manuscript preparation.

Clinical Rotations

The Division of Surgical Oncology is divided into two teams. One team concentrates in cutaneous malignancies, soft tissue sarcomas, head and neck malignancies, and breast tumors. The second team concentrates in hepatobiliary malignancies, pancreatic tumors, colorectal malignancies, and HIPEC. We emphasize both minimally invasive and open approaches. The fellow’s surgical oncology core time will be divided between these two groups. The first-year rotations also include four-week rotations in Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Pathology, and Research.

The second-year rotation includes six months of core rotations and two months of dedicated research time to perform focused studies in health outcomes research and/or clinical trials. In the second year, the fellow rotates at the Women & Infants Hospital’s Breast Department for one-month in addition to a one–month rotation with the Gynecological Oncology service. There is a one-month clinical rotation in Kansas focusing on gaining robotic HPB experience and a one-month international elective, which is funded by the Department.

Applying

Applications are processed through the NRMP. Candidates who are selected to interview will be contacted by the program coordinator.

Contact Information

For questions about the program, please contact Rachel Worster at 401-456-2484 or by email at Rachel.worster@chartercare.org.