Pediatric Surgery

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

Program Specialty / Subspecialty: International Pediatric Surgery Fellowship Program

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

Program Phone Number: 513-636-4371

Program Fax Number: 513-636-7657

Program Email: meera.kotagal@cchmc.org

Program Director: Meera Kotagal, MD

Alternate Program Contact: Meghan Wiesner, Program Coordinator, meghan.wiesner@cchmc.org

Duration

Two years.

Prerequisite Training / Selection Criteria

Internationally trained pediatric surgeons seeking additional training. Consideration is also given to international medical graduates who have completed general surgery residency training and seek primary training in pediatric surgery. All foreign medical graduates must hold a valid license to practice medicine in his/her country of origin. Each applicant must submit:

1. Program application
2. An updated curriculum vitae (CV)
3. Two letters of recommendation from his/her host institution
4. A personal statement, including career plans upon completion of the fellowship with us
5. Valid ECFMG certificate, which requires passing Step 1 and both part of Step 2 of the USMLE.

All documents are reviewed by the program director. All eligible candidates will receive a phone/virtual interview by the program director and other faculty. Candidates will be selected based on accomplishments, potential impact in their home country upon completion of the fellowship, and ability to integrate into the team and structure at Cincinnati Children’s. 

Goals and Objectives

The goal of the fellowship is to provide international fellows (ideally from resource-constrained environments) with exposure to the breadth and depth of pediatric surgery on our service, building their competency in the clinical management of routine pediatric surgical problems and their technical skills to perform pediatric surgical operations. During the training period, the trainee will participate in the care of pediatric surgery patients with our current residents, sharing operative and on-call responsibilities, along with active participation in the educational activities of our department. Further, this individual will rotate in the pediatric subspecialty areas of Colorectal, Urology, Otolaryngology, and Neonatology. Additional opportunities exist to rotate in Trauma, Fetal, Vascular Anomalies, and Orthopedics as is applicable for the fellow’s home environment.

Program Certifications

None at this time.

Teaching Staff

Pediatric Surgery – Alexander Bondoc, MD, Rebeccah Brown, MD, Roshni Dasgupta, MD, MPH, Richard Falcone, MD, MPH, MMM, Jason Frischer, MD, Victor Garcia, MD, Aaron Garrison, MD, Michael Helmrath, MD, Meera Kotagal MD, MPH, Foong-Yen Lim, MD, Bhargava Mullapudi MD, Jose Peiro, MD, Todd Ponsky MD, Nelson Rosen MD, Beth Rymeski, DO, Gregory Tiao, MD, Daniel von Allmen, MD.

The training program director, Dr. Meera Kotagal will coordinate all aspects of the fellowship training program. The surgical faculty will supervise the fellow on all operative cases as well as on inpatient and outpatient care.

Facilities

All training is conducted at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is a private medical center providing 673 inpatient 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 two-year training period, the fellow will be expected to participate in the Pediatric Surgical educational programs, outpatient and inpatient care, routine and complex surgical procedures. This program includes a graduated advancement of responsibility for the fellow throughout their fellowship. During the first month of the fellowship, the fellow will be introduced to the service (including the service structure and protocols for care) and will shadow on rounds and on “junior” level call, including calls from the nurses taking care of primary floor patients. Over the next 8 months (months 2-9), the fellow will take “junior” call and participate in clinic and cases. For months 9-12, the fellow will begin to shadow “senior” call which includes taking consults from the Emergency Department to learn more about this role. The fellow will then graduate to a “senior” call role – comparable with PGY3 general surgery residents from the United States – for the second year of their fellowship. The fellows also engage in external rotations in Colorectal, Urology, Neonatology, and Otolaryngology during their two-year fellowship.

Fellows are also expected to engage in research activities during their fellowship. They should participate in 1-2 research projects, from development through to submission, during their two-year fellowship.

The ultimate responsibility for the care of patients belongs to 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 patients 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.

• Pediatric Surgery Grand Rounds
• Pediatric Surgery/Radiology Conference
• Pediatric Surgery Morbidity & Mortality Conference
• Pediatric Surgery/Pathology Conference
• Trauma Morbidity & Mortality Conference

The trainee is mentored and supervised by the Program Director through daily interaction and feedback.  Fellows are evaluated every six months by the Program Director and the faculty, and a summary evaluation is conducted at the conclusion of the fellowship. In addition, the sub-specialty 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.