Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Program Director: Perry Shen, M.D., FACS
The Surgical Oncology Service, in the Department of General Surgery, offers a two-year surgical oncology fellowship to fully trained general surgeons who desire advanced training.
The Surgical Oncology Service is composed of eight full-time faculty members and is a key component of the Wake Forest University National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Annually, over 1,500 major operative procedures are performed and approximately 7,500 outpatient visits are seen in the surgical oncology clinics. The overarching goal of the fellowship is the development of clinical and operative skills in surgical oncology, with an emphasis on complex surgical procedures for the difficult problems seen in a tertiary referral center. An understanding of the basic principles of oncology, surgical pathology, medical oncology, and radiation oncology, as well as an appreciation for research and academic endeavors is highlighted. The clinical experience is diverse, extensive, and includes all aspects of cancer surgery. In addition to the faculty, the fellowship is supported by a dedicated Surgical Oncology service with general surgery residents of all levels, working with advanced practitioners, nurses and research staff.
Fellows will gain extensive experience in the surgical treatment of malignancies of the breast, endocrine organs, gastrointestinal tract, liver, biliary structures, pancreas, melanoma and sarcoma. They will perform surgical procedures, evaluate consultations and see follow up patients in clinic under the direct supervision of attending physicians. Further, fellows function as part of multidisciplinary teams caring for patients with neoplastic disease.
The Wake Forest surgical oncology department is internationally known for its Peritoneal Surface Malignancy program and has one of the largest experiences with cytoreductive surgery and peritoneal chemoperfusion in the world. The fellow will learn how to evaluate patients with peritoneal surface disease from appendiceal, colorectal, and primary peritoneal cancers. The fellow will learn the techniques of peritonectomy and extensive cytoreductive surgery, as well as the application of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).
During the course of the training program, the fellow will rotate through medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgical pathology, and gynecologic oncology. There will also be the opportunity to take elective rotations in areas of specific individual interest. The fellow is expected to attend weekly oncology core curriculum lectures for residents and fellows in all oncologic disciplines. The conferences include a weekly: Grand Rounds and Quality/Performance Improvement conference; Multidisciplinary Tumor Board, Breast Conference, and HepatoPancreatoBiliary (HPB) Oncology Conference. In addition, the Surgical Oncology faculty sponsor an annual Multimodality Breast Cancer and biennial HPB/Gastrointestinal Oncology conferences which draw participants from throughout the state. Fellows will not only help supervise and teach residents and medical students, but they will also participate in outpatient clinics, rounds, Grand Rounds, and run a monthly HIPEC Case conference and surgical oncology journal club.
Research interests will be discussed with the fellow at the beginning of the academic year and will include clinical/translational projects, protocol development for investigator-initiated studies, and an optional laboratory experience in translational science. The goal is for the fellow to complete at least one clinical research project during each year of the fellowship. The Surgical Oncology Service maintains active prospective databases of patients treated in its Peritoneal Perfusion, Lymphatic Mapping, Esophagectomy, and HPB Surgery program which provides excellent data for clinical research projects. In addition, there are full-time research coordinators available to assist with data collection and manuscript preparation, along with dedicated statistical support.
Our goal is to train outstanding surgeons in the broad field of Surgical Oncology with the expertise to lead in the multidisciplinary care of the cancer patient.
Contact Information
| Program Director: | Perry Shen, M.D., FACS |
| Email: | pshen@wakehealth.edu |
| Chief of Service: | Edward A. Levine, M.D., FACS |
| Program Coordinator: | Jennifer Hinson |
| Email: | jhinson@wakehealth.edu |
| Length of Program: | 2 years |
| Eligibility: | Applicants must have completed their residency training in general surgery at an approved US or Canadian program. |
| The number of positions per year: | 1 |
| Address: | Wake Forest University Department of General Surgery Watlington Hall, 5th Floor Medical Center Blvd Winston-Salem, NC 27157 |
| Phone: | 336-716-2409 |