Brown University/Women & Infants Hospital of RI’s Breast Health Center

Providence, Rhode Island

Training Program Director: David Edmonson, MD, FACS

Women & Infants Hospital is the major teaching hospital of Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University that is dedicated to the advancement of health care for women. It has been recognized by the NIH as a National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health.

Through the Program in Women’s Oncology, Women & Infants Hospital offers formal sub-specialty training in the diagnosis and treatment of cancers unique to women.  The Program has been accredited with the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer since 1997 and is also the recipient of the CoC Outstanding Achievement Award as of 2013. Through the Breast Health Center, a formal one-year Fellowship in Breast Disease is offered accepting two fellows per year.  As its mission, the Program offers intensive inter-disciplinary training to board-eligible physicians seeking to become leaders in the field of breast disease. The fellowship has been accredited by the SSO since 2003, and The Breast Health Center of Women & Infants Hospital is accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). Our prospective multidisciplinary tumor board, reaching across the three hospital campuses, meets weekly to review every breast cancer case prospectively pre and postoperatively. The fellowship calendar strictly follows SSO guidelines with formally dedicated rotations for both fellows in radiation oncology, plastic surgery, medical oncology, pathology and radiology in alternating months. In addition, fellows are also exposed to genetics, palliative care, lymphedema and the WISH Clinic (Women’s Intimacy and Sexual Health).

Clinical Rotations

The Breast Disease Fellowship incorporates the SSO designated core aspects of training as well as a balanced exposure to integrative care.  The fellowship begins with an introductory rotation at the Breast Health Centers at both Women & Infants Hospital and Kent Hospital (our sister community hospital located in Warwick, Rhode Island). Also during the month of August, the fellows participate in a 2-week Fellow Workshop (clinical research) for 2-hours per day which includes various research related topics (i.e., stats, study design, clinical trials, proposals, grants, CV/biosketch, etc.).  As stated above, the fellows do clinical rotations in medical specialties related to breast cancer: radiation oncology, medical oncology, radiology, pathology, and reconstructive breast surgery. These rotations are each one month with radiology and pathology sharing a month with radiology in the morning and pathology in the afternoon.  The fellows do 8 months on the clinic/surgery service with 6 months in the Breast Health Center at Women & Infants and 2 months at the Breast Health Center at Kent Hospital.

In addition to the scheduled rotations, the fellows will manage their own panel of patients in an independent surgical clinic on alternating Wednesdays starting in their second month and carrying through to the end of their fellowship in July. The attendings sharing this clinic session time, are there for the fellow in a supervisory role, if necessary.

Meetings and Conferences

The Fellowship in Breast Disease at the Breast Health Center also offers core educational activities. The foremost of this is the weekly multi-center Multidisciplinary Tumor Board which the fellow is charged with preparing and running. Additional education is offered through weekly pathology case conference, genetics case conference and monthly journal club and psycho-social rounds.  A formal didactic curriculum occurs weekly on Friday afternoons which incorporates monthly morbidity/mortality conferences.

The breast fellows routinely present at not only ASBrS, but also RI ACS, and fellow research day.  The fellow joins an oncology team that hosts residents and medical students from Women & Infants’ OB/GYN residency, and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Training of Residents

Integral to the breast service are the Obstetrics and Gynecology residents and Brown Medical Students, as well as visiting residents and medical students.  The breast fellow serves as the primary on-service leader and educator for this team.

Research and Clinical Trials

Research is an integral part of the Breast Disease Fellowship and the program remains dedicated to the investigative and scholarly pursuit of research in breast disease. Each fellow is required to complete a minimum of one project resulting in a completed manuscript. The Breast Health Center actively participates in clinical research in the effort to advance the knowledge and treatment of breast cancer. As part of their clinical activities in the Program in Women’s Oncology, fellows gain exposure to clinical trials conducted by the national cooperative oncology groups, including NRG Oncology, NSAPB, Alliance and the Clinical Trials Support Unit (CTSU), multicenter studies sponsored by pharmaceutical companies and investigator-initiated trials developed by our own faculty or conducted by the Brown University Oncology Group (BrUOG). We also actively participate in the Brown University Oncology Group (BrUOG). Through these relationships, the fellow will have the opportunity to participate in and design clinical research trials. For those more interested in basic science research, the Program in Women’s Oncology also offers research assistance through dedicated laboratory space which provides an excellent opportunity for collaborative research.

The umbrella of comprehensive breast health services provides a continuum of care with many dimensions, all of which the fellow will be truly integrated. These include:

• A multidisciplinary team of physicians which functions as a health care model convening weekly in the open forum of a prospective Tumor Board.
• The representative disciplines of surgical oncology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, palliative medicine psychiatry and clinical genetics.
• An on-site Tumor Registry
• An active on-site cancer genetics database
• An active on-site clinical research office
• Active out-patient chemotherapy and IV treatment unit with a dedicated pharmacist on site.
• Support staff including social workers and nutritionists
• Continuing medical education opportunities for our community
• Humanistic decision making program-based home care and hospice services
• A nationally recognized Integrative Care program which includes therapeutic massage, a lymphedema clinic, acupuncture, meditation, art therapy, and numerous support groups for both patients and families.
• The Women & Infants’ Hospital Telemedicine Network (“Virtual Presence”): an interactive videoconference linkage between the oncology program, the hospital conference rooms, the OR, and a growing network of hospitals in New England and internationally who look to us for leadership in cancer care.

To apply for this Breast Disease Fellowship, please submit the following items:

• One copy of the completed application form
• A current curriculum vitae
• A letter of personal statement
• Three (3) letters of recommendation from persons best qualified to vouch for the character and professional qualifications of the applicant
• In-Service Scores
• A 2 x 3 photograph
• Creative Piece (This may be a favorite poem, song lyrics, work of art, etc. It does not need to be an original.)

Any item that cannot be downloaded to the SSO website may be sent directly to the fellowship coordinator below.

Contact Information