Colon and Rectal Surgery - Curriculum and Research

Didactic sessions occur every Tuesday starting at 7am and include Journal Club, GI Tumor Board, Quality Assurance (M&M), Radiology and Pathology and Research Meeting/Updates.  Many of the conferences are multidisciplinary in nature and have representation from radiology, pathology, medical oncology and radiation oncology.  After the dedicated conferences, a weekly chapter review from the ASCRS textbook is performed by one of the colorectal staff which involves an interactive discussion and review of all the chapters in the textbook throughout the year.  Additional specialty lectures are included throughout the year and include a genetics lecture, enterostomal therapy lecture, gastroenterology talks, etc..

The colorectal surgery research department is very active and is headed by Drs. Asgeirsson and Luchtefeld.  Every year, there is a colorectal surgery research fellow who is actively involved in ongoing research projects and also starting new projects throughout the year.  The Ferguson Clinic is actively involved in local and national meetings with both poster and podium presentations over the past several decades.

The surgical case volume at the Ferguson Clinic is very diverse and the laparoscopic experience is abundant with each colorectal surgery fellow graduating with approximately 80 laparoscopic cases at the end of the year.  In addition to the clinical laparoscopic volume which is essential for the trainee, several company sponsored courses are available during the fellowship year.  The case load at the Ferguson clinic has an abundant amount of anorectal cases, laparoscopic cases, and endoscopy, in addition to robotic assisted cases with the DaVinci dual console, SILS, TEMS/TAMIS, STARR, and InterStim for fecal incontinence.  Below is the case volume per year which is for 2 fellows throughout the year.

 

  Anorectal 350
  Hemorrhoids 100
  Sphincter repair 10
  Endorectal flap/fistula repairs 15
     
  Pelvic Floor Evaluations 50
     
  Rectal Prolapse Surgery 40
     
  Endoscopy 450
  Proctoscopy/Anoscopy 100
  Polypectomy 80
     
  Abdominal 550
  Laparoscopic 180
  LAR 64
  APR 13
  Pouches 22