Pediatric Surgery

Name of Host Institution: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

Program Specialty / Subspecialty: Trauma Fellowship for International Applicants

Program Mailing Address:
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
MLC 2023
3333 Burnet Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039

Program Phone Number: 513-803-7791

Program Fax Number: 513-636-7657

Program Email: meera.kotagal@cchmc.org

Program Director: Meera Kotagal, MD

Alternate Program Contact: Sarah Bailey, Program Coordinator, sarah.bailey@cchmc.org, 513-803-9226

History

This program was approved by the Graduate Medical Education Committee in January 2009. It is designed to give a broad pediatric surgery experience to physicians from outside the United States who desire additional pediatric surgery exposure in preparation for practice in their home country.

Duration

Two years.

Prerequisite Training / Selection Criteria

The trainee would need to be an internationally trained general surgery resident who has completed general surgery training and seeks primary training in pediatric surgery or an internationally trained pediatric surgeon seeking additional experience. To participate in the clinical care aspects of the position, it is necessary to be eligible for a training license in the state of Ohio. This requires passing the necessary ECFMG exams before coming to the United States.

Goals and Objectives

During the training period, the trainee will participate in the general pediatric surgery rotation with our current residents, sharing operative and on-call responsibilities and in the educational activities of our department. Further, this individual will have opportunities to rotate in our surgery subspecialty areas of colorectal, trauma, fetal, and vascular anomalies/oncology. 

The goal of this position is to enable the trainee to gain expertise in pediatric surgery and its subspecialties, which will enhance his or her ability to care for pediatric surgical patients in their home country.

Program Certifications

None.

Teaching Staff

Drs. Maria Alonso, Alexander Bondoc, Rebeccah Brown, Roshni Dasgupta, Richard Falcone, Jason Frischer, Victor Garcia, Aaron Garrison, Michael Helmrath, Meera Kotagal, Foong-Yen Lim, Bhargava Mullapudi, Jaimie Nathan, Jose Peiro, Todd Ponsky, Nelson Rosen, Beth Rymeski, Gregory Tiao, and Daniel von Allmen.

Facilities

All training is conducted at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, a private medical center providing 580 registered beds. The hospital is one of the largest children’s care facilities in the United States in several categories: number of beds, number of emergency room visits and number of operative procedures.

During the training period, this individual will be expected to participate in the pediatric surgical educational programs, outpatient and inpatient care, and routine and complex surgical procedures. The trainee will also be involved in clinical research projects. The trainee may also participate in shared general pediatric surgery clinical and educational experiences with our current pediatric surgery trainees when deemed to be beneficial.

The goal of this fellowship position is to enable the trainee to gain expertise in the diagnosis, medical and operative management of a wide spectrum of pediatric surgery abnormalities.

The ultimate responsibility for care of the patients is the attending surgeon. No patient is admitted to the hospital, undergoes a procedure or has a consultation without the attending surgeon being made fully aware and assuming all responsibility. The fellows interact with the attendings on a daily basis to go over the patient’s progress or to raise any concerns. The attending surgeon is routinely called directly by the fellow. There is frequent communication both at the bedside and in the department regarding patient management decisions.

The trainees will be performing surgical procedures including:

• Pediatric general surgery cases (ie: appendectomy, gastrostomy tubes, central venous lines, cholecystectomy, inguinal, epigastric, and umbilical hernias)
• Hemangioma / vascular malformation cases
• Colorectal cases (ie:  Malone, colon resection for IBD, etc.)

The trainee will have the opportunity to observe and participate in (as second scrub) complex pediatric surgery cases, such as neonatal cases, complex colorectal cases, and oncology cases.

Weekly

• Tumor Board
• Pediatric Surgery Grand Rounds
• Pediatric Surgery / Radiology Conference
• Pediatric Surgery Morbidity and Mortality Conference
• Trauma Process Improvements

Fellows are evaluated every six months by the program director, and a summary evaluation is conducted at the conclusion of the fellowship. In addition, the subspecialty residents are expected to provide formal evaluations of the individual faculty members, the program of learning and the program resources on an annual basis. This information is collated and presented to the faculty in an anonymous fashion.