Colon & Rectal Surgery

It is a broadly based and comprehensive surgical training program that provides a diverse, independent and extensive clinical experience within private, public and university hospital settings. Many of its features are unique and set it above and apart from other colorectal fellowships. The fellows spend equal time at each of three very different institutions – University of Illinois College of Medicine, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County – to gain experience in a variety of settings.

The program allows fellows who have completed five or more years of General Surgery training to apply for one year of specialty training. The program comprehensively trains fellows in the use of modern techniques to treat malignant problems of the colon and rectum and benign anorectal disorders, as well as care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

The Colorectal Surgery Fellowship Program serves as a consulting service for Stroger Hospital, UIC and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. The Division at Stroger Hospital, along with the Section of Surgical Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, performs the majority of inpatient and outpatient colonoscopy and flexible proctosigmoidoscopies examinations for surgery at this institution. The division admits over 500 patients annually and sees approximately 4,500 patients in clinics. Members of the Colorectal Surgery Division have presented a variety of papers at national meetings and have published clinical papers in the various medical journals. Graduates of the program are leaders in the field with nearly 50 percent entering academic practice in recent years.

The strengths of the program are:

• Availability and expertise of national leaders in the field
• Breadth and depth of clinical activity
• Comprehensive evaluation process
• Continuity of care for advanced rectal cancer from diagnosis to neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy, surgery, and follow-up, including multidisciplinary exposure
• Diverse, independent and extensive clinic experience
• Laparoscopic and robotic surgery experience
• Level of clinical independence available to fellows
• Pathology teaching
• Private, public and university hospital settings
• Structured education curriculum
• Volume of endoscopy