Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship

The clinical educational objective of the three-year training program is to provide trainees with the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience to independently manage gynecologic cancer patients with complex treatment requirements and to seek consultation when appropriate. Specific educational goals for each fellow include the development of the following:

 

1. Sufficient understanding, experience, and proficiency to perform radical pelvic surgery independently and to manage intestinal, urologic, and vascular procedures necessary for the treatment of gynecologic cancer.
   • Fellows will gain sufficient experience to capably plan the most appropriate, evidence-based treatment for a gynecologic cancer patient while taking into consideration the co-morbidities that may alter the chosen approach.
   • Fellows will demonstrate proficiency with open, conventional laparoscopic, and robot-assisted laparoscopic surgical approaches.
   • Fellows will demonstrate an understanding of surgical anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology pertinent to the management of gynecologic cancers, including co-management of patients in the intensive care unit.
   • Procedures with which the fellow will become expert include, but are not limited to:
     • Hysterectomy by all approaches, including adnexectomy and lymphadenectomy
     • Radical hysterectomy by all approaches, including lymphadenectomy
     • Ovarian cancer staging and radical debulking, including IP port placement
     • Bowel resection and anastomosis; appendectomy; loop and end colostomy
     • Urinary diversion
     • Recognition and repair of urinary, intestinal, and vascular injury
     • Pelvic exenteration
     • Reconstruction techniques including omental J-flap, split-thickness skin graft, and common myocutaneous flap procedures
     • Radical vulvectomy, including lymphadenectomy and sentinel node mapping
     • The fellow will develop an understanding of less common myocutaneous flap procedures and will learn when consultation is appropriate
2. Ability to plan and implement non-operative management plans for the care of associated pain and medical conditions that affect the treatment of gynecologic cancer patients and to obtain appropriate consultation when necessary.
3. Sufficient understanding and ability to participate as a member of the team that plans and applies all forms of gynecologic radiotherapy, including brachytherapy procedures.
4. Ability to select patients, choose and administer drugs, and care for the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. This will include the development and understanding of clinical trial design, enrollment, and data management for patients enrolled in clinical trials, in addition to knowledge of intravenous, intraperitoneal, and oral regimens.

1. The fellow will select a thesis and thesis advisor. The project must lead to the completion of a thesis suitable for subspecialty board certification. The thesis will be approved by an appointed Thesis Committee, and a formal defense of the thesis project will be carried out prior to completion of training. This project may be laboratory-based basic or translational science, or non-laboratory-based epidemiology or outcomes-research.
   • Lab research selection for thesis: The fellow will develop a sufficient understanding of laboratory-based research projects in addition to the development of collaborative skills with others that foster ongoing research activities.
   • Epidemiology research selection for thesis: The fellow will develop sufficient understanding in clinical, epidemiology, or outcomes research projects in addition to the development of collaborative skills with others that foster ongoing research activities.
   • Clinical Trials: The fellow will write the clinical trial protocol along with their mentor, obtain trial approval, and start the trial during their fellowship.
2. The fellow will learn to write scientific manuscripts and will gain exposure to writing grant applications including research administration and Institutional Review Board applications.
3. The fellow will gain experience in contributing in an academic setting and developing research collaborations.

Our division is committed to fellow education. Each fellow will be provided resources and experience to develop academic skills. The fellow will develop the ability to use appropriate methods and educational aids to teach medical students, residents, and allied health care professionals in clinical or classroom environments.

 

Fellows are also expected to participate in the education of residents and medical students. Two or three residents at different levels of training, one or more medical students, and one pharmacy student are usually assigned to the division for each rotation. The rotations are one month in duration for the residents and pharmacy students, and one to two weeks in duration for the medical students. Residents and medical students function as important members of the health care team under the direction of the gynecologic oncology fellows. This relationship exists in the ambulatory patient clinics, the inpatient service, and the operating room. In addition to teaching on daily work rounds and in the operating room, fellows are asked to prepare and deliver formal lectures and seminars for the resident core curriculum and to lead discussion at department journal clubs.