Program Director: Richard Fortunato, DO, FACS, FASCRS
Fellows per year: 2
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The attending staff for the Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship consists of 6 board-certified colon and rectal surgeons. The fellowship is based at St. Vincent Health Center in Erie, PA with secondary activity at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. The surgical volume between the two sites includes approximately 650 abdominal cases, 400 anorectal cases and 1500 colonoscopies annually. The teaching faculty represent the largest colorectal surgical presence in northwest Pennsylvania drawing from western New York and northeast Ohio as well as the largest colorectal group in the greater Pittsburgh area whose patients range into central Pennsylvania, southwest Ohio and northern West Virginia.
The program is proud of its devotion to providing our patients with the most up to date minimally invasive surgery techniques and evidence-based surgical treatments. Robotic and laparoscopic surgery are performed on a routine basis for both malignant and benign diseases of the colon and rectum. There are a wide array of anorectal cases ranging from the routine hemorrhoidectomy to that of complex Transanal Minimally Invasive Surgery (TAMIS) for low rectal disease. Additionally, there is ample exposure to and experience with complex IBD surgery and ileal pouch construction.
The same devotion exists to the endoscopic and physiological assessment services. In addition to routine colonoscopy, therapeutic modalities including stenting, hydrostatic balloon dilation, argon beam plasma coagulation and tattooing are performed. Available physiologic studies include anal manometry, pudendal nerve terminal motor latency testing and anorectal ultrasound. In office, the full spectrum of challenges in the appropriate diagnosis and workup of malignancies, benign disease as well as anorectal pathology is present. This allows for excellent continuity of patient care for the fellow - both pre-operatively and post-operatively.
There is active interest in both prospective as well as retrospective clinically based research with projects ongoing annually. Each fellow is expected to prepare a manuscript suitable for oral presentation to the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. The program is devoted to an ACGME competency-based approach to evaluating progress through the program. Fellows alternate in preparing and delivering weekly evidence-based PowerPoint presentations covering the topics of the colorectal curriculum based on the ASCRS textbook. This serves as the basis for discussion of key points and controversies within the surgical literature. Additionally, a multi-disciplinary tumor board and GI conference meet on a monthly basis.
Applications for the Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship are taken through Electronic Residency Application Service® (ERAS®).
For more information, please call the medical education administrator at 814-452-5106.
An additional 10 days of salaried absence for off-site medical education (courses, symposia, etc.). No fewer than three of these days will be reserved for attendance at the annual meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.
The Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship program is part of the Graduate Medical Education (GME) opportunities offered by the AHN Medical Education Consortium. Learn more about Graduate Medical Education.
"The split structure of the program exposes fellows to both community based and tertiary care in a way that complements any background in general surgery training. It's a unique experience where every attending you work with is invested in your learning and professional rather than putting up with you for a month while you scrounge for complex cases or pick up colonoscopies. Both sites are also receptive to fellow input for improvement, so you get to shape and improve the
program as you see fit rather than be a bystander."
-Bethany Malone, M.D. 2020
"This fellowship gives you exposure to a diverse colorectal patient population with 6 months in a rural community improving upon fundamentals Of colorectal practice, endoscopy skills and working side by side with your teaching faculty. Another 6 months is spent complimenting your education in an urban setting in a busy tertiary referral center with complex pathology, resident teaching service and weekly conferences."
-Anna Spivak, D.O. 2020
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