Advanced Gastrointestinal Minimally Invasive Surgery/ Foregut

About the Program

The Advanced Gastrointestinal Minimally Invasive Surgery and Foregut fellowship is a one-year fellowship that focuses on clinical and research endeavors in the field of Minimally Invasive Surgery, including foregut surgery, bariatrics, and abdominal wall reconstruction. This fellowship helps candidates to gain clinical, research, and teaching experience that will provide a foundation for future academic careers in minimally invasive surgery while also enhancing their flexible endoscopy, laparoscopic, and robotic skills. The Advanced GI MIS/Foregut fellowship, accredited by The Fellowship Council, allows fellows to train under and work side-by-side with internationally recognized surgeons in minimally invasive surgery. Many of our fellows have gone on to become directors of residency and fellowship programs, directors of bariatric, foregut, and/or hernia centers, as well as specialists in minimally invasive surgery in other academic or high-volume community positions. During this fellowship, fellows:

Perform a high volume of anti-reflux, paraesophageal hernia, gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy, Heller myotomy, esophagectomy, and abdominal wall procedures including many revisional operations
Perform flexible endoscopies in our GI suite
Participate in foregut, bariatric, and hernia clinics and staff our active motility laboratory
Act as clinical instructors and supervise residents on the MIS service

At the conclusion of this fellowship, fellows are eligible to obtain an Advanced GI MIS and a Foregut Certification from SAGES (the Society for American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons). Some fellows have also been able to attain ASMBS (the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery) Certification. All fellows will leave with the skills needed to comprehensively investigate, diagnose, recommend appropriate treatment for, perform the appropriate operation on, and provide expert pre-, peri-, and post-operative care for patients.

Quick Facts

Started in 1994, the Advanced GI MIS/Foregut Fellowship is one of the most established programs in the country
Our Esophageal Diagnostic Lab is one of the highest volume labs of its kind in the United States
The Center for Esophageal and Gastric Surgery, where fellows spend much of their time, performs over 1,200 procedures annually

Program Leadership

Andrew Wright, MD
Program Director
Center for VideoEndoscopic Surgery Endowed Professor
Director, UW Medicine Hernia Clinic

Saurabh Khandelwal, MD, FACS, FASMBS
Associate Program Director
Associate Professor of Surgery
Director, UW Medicine Bariatric Program
Co-Director, UW Medicine Center for Weight Loss and Metabolic Surgery

CLINICAL TRAINING

Clinical Experience

The Center for VideoEndoscopic Surgery (CVES) expects fellows to spend 2-3 days per week in the OR working with one of three areas of clinical focus: the Center for Esophageal and Gastric Surgery (CEGS), the Center for Weight Loss and Metabolic Surgery (WLMC), and the Surgical Services and Hernia Center (SSHC).

CEGS, where fellows spend a majority of their clinical time, sees patients with a variety of conditions including gastroesophageal reflux, esophageal and gastric cancer, hiatal/paraesophageal/abdominal hernias, esophageal motility disorders, and esophageal diverticula.
WLMC, where fellows spend most of the remainder of their clinical time, sees patients needing bariatric surgery including gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, complex revisional surgery, and lap-band removal/revision.
SSHC, where fellows can spend the rest of their clinical time, is a general surgery center where fellows will have the chance to be involved with a variety of abdominal surgeries, mostly dealing with abdominal hernias (epigastric, umbilical, incisional, inguinal, femoral, etc).

Throughout their year in the Advanced GI MIS/Foregut fellowship, fellows gain experience in novel techniques in minimally invasive surgery as well as in flexible endoscopy. During the last two fellowship years, despite COVID restrictions, our fellows were able to complete an average of:

125 foregut surgeries
80 bariatric surgeries (including 30-40 anastomotic cases)
30 abdominal wall surgeries
90 endoscopies

Training Sites

Although over 90% of fellows’ time is spent at the Montlake campus of the University of Washington Medical Center within CEGS and WLMC, our fellows are also able to gain experience at the UW-Medical Center-Northwest campus within SSHC.

UW Medical Center-Montlake

As the No. 1 hospital in Seattle and Washington State (U.S. News & World Report), UW Medical Center-Montlake is one of the nation’s foremost tertiary referral academic health centers. Utilizing our over 500 beds and 5,000 employees, we deliver exceptional, multidisciplinary care to a vast array of patients who come to us from across the globe.

From first of their kind, life-saving surgical procedures to routine adult, maternal and newborn medicine, we're training the next generation of medical professionals. By using the latest advances in medical technology and patient- and family-centered care, we're building a better future for our community. Explore UW Medical Center-Montlake

UW Medical Center-Northwest

UW Medical Center-Northwest is a full-service medical center based in North Seattle, offering emergency and inpatient and outpatient medical, surgical and therapeutic care. The hospital offers personalized, quality care on a beautiful, easy-to-access, 44-acre campus.

UW Medical Center-Northwest is a community-based, non-profit hospital with 281 beds, 2,000-plus employees and a world-class medical staff that provides innovative, technologically advanced, patient-centered care. Explore UW Medical Center-Northwest

Conferences

Weekly Meetings

Wednesdays:

6:30am: Grand Rounds (first Wednesday of the month)
7:00am: QA/QI (2nd-5th Wednesdays of the month)
2:00pm: CEGS Meeting (2nd Wednesday of the month)
3:30pm: CVES Research Meeting (weekly)

Thursdays:

8:00am: Bariatric Multidisciplinary Conference (weekly)
4:30pm Multi-Campus Hernia Conference (first Thursday of the month)

HOW TO APPLY

Recruitment and Selection

The Advanced GI MIS/ Foregut fellowship receives approximately 100 applications each year through The Fellowship Council website. Out of those applications, 15 candidates are typically interviewed for the position. Applications are only accepted through The Fellowship Council. In considering the applications, we look for those who work well within a team, who aspire to lead in the field of minimally invasive surgery, and who will successfully participate in academic activities.

To be eligible to apply to our program, the candidate must:

Qualify for a Washington State medical license*
Be on track to complete a general surgical residency program

*Unfortunately, we are unable to accept applicants who do not have US citizenship/permanent resident status or who attended medical school or did their residency outside of the US or Canada.

Application Process and Dates

The application period opens December 1^st and lasts until the middle of January. The Fellowship Council has updated their process so that we begin our access to all applications at the same time in mid-January and are able to send out invitations starting in February. Interviews will take place in March and April, and they will be conducted virtually. Timeline generally goes as follows:

Application Opens: early December (Fellowship Council ID: 1030)

Application Closes: mid-January
Interview Dates: 3 days throughout early March to mid-April
Selection: mid-July
Anticipated Start Date: August 1 the following year

Interview Day Process

Your interview day will look something like as follows:

9:30am-11:30am: Welcome with Fellowship Program Directors
11:30am-12:30pm: Talk with current fellows/Virtual tour and lunch
12:30pm-3pm: Interviews with the faculty

3pm-4pm: CVES Research Meeting (optional)

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESEARCH

Mentorship

During the fellowship year, fellows meet with either one or both Program Directors formally on a quarterly basis for evaluations and with all faculty on a frequent basis.

Leadership

This program provides fellows with many opportunities to grow their leadership skills. These opportunities include:

Running the weekly research conference where project updates and presentations are given
Taking attending level call 2-3 nights/month with supervision and backup of MIS faculty
Running monthly clinic operations meetings
Supervising residents
Independently writing 2-4 manuscripts and/or book chapters

Research

During the Advanced GI MIS/Foregut Fellowship, fellows participate in the clinical, research, administrative, and educational goals of the Center for VideoEndoscopic Surgery. With this in mind, the fellowship is split into 80% clinical activity and 20% research activity. The Center for VideoEndoscopic Surgery conducts research relating to gastric, esophageal, bariatric, and hernia surgeries and their clinical outcomes. We have around 10 different databases that can be accessed for research. Fellows are expected to spend somewhere between a half and a whole day each week focused on research and will present their research either at SAGES or at ASMBS. They will also present at our departmental research day.

Educational and Research Conferences

Schilling Lecture & Research Symposium - March

Department of Surgery Research Symposium and Schilling Lecture. This is an opportune moment to reflect on both the phenomenal quality of research in the department and the distinguished group of scholars who have joined us as lecturers and visiting faculty over the years. The Schilling lecturers represent the best and brightest across the spectrum of clinical and research disciplines in surgery. Their lectures inspire our residents and faculty and their engaged participation in the Research Symposium celebrates the work of our trainees. The Schilling Lecture & Research Symposium are made possible by a generous gift from the late Helen Schilling in honor of her husband Dr. John Schilling. The Schillings were deeply committed to teaching, scholarship and research and this event, during which residents and fellows showcase their research supported by faculty mentors, is a great aspect of their legacy. It is with tremendous pride and gratitude that we carry on this tradition and look forward to doing so for years to come.

Harkins Society - October

In 1955 “The Society of the Golden Pouch,” a spoof surgical society, was established by residents to honor the Department of Surgery’s first Chair, Henry N. Harkins, with a dinner celebrating his fiftieth birthday. The “founders” intended that the new society would disband at the end of the evening. The Harkins Society, as it was renamed, instead went on to become the Department’s Alumni Society. Its membership includes the Department of Surgery Faculty, former chief residents, and fellows. In 1963, the Society was incorporated as a tax-exempt organization. Today, the Harkins Society is rich with tradition.

Strauss Lecture - October

In presenting the Annual Strauss Lectures the Strauss/Friedlander family is carrying on the tradition established so many years ago by Dr. and Mrs. Alfred A. Strauss. Born in Germany in 1881, Dr. Strauss came to Colville, WA at the age of ten. An honor graduate of the University of Washington in 1904 and an outstanding member of the Alumni Association, he received the singular honor of the Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus in 1951.

Annual Department of Surgery Education Seminar

Surgical education is at the heart of the Department of Surgery’s mission. Every June, the entire Department of Surgery gathers to discuss a topic within surgical education with the goal of improving the training of our residents as well as improving the culture of the Department. Both Faculty and trainees are invited to present and lead the discussion.

ALUMNI

The Advanced Gastrointestinal Minimally Invasive Surgery and Foregut fellowship is nearing its 50th graduate since 1994. Below are the fellows from 2005 on and their first positions out of the fellowship:

Mary Kate Bryant, MD
2022-2023
Assistant Professor
Medical University of South Carolina

Laurel Tangalakis, MD
2021-2022
Foregut/Bariatric Surgeon
Ascension Health Borgess Hospital

Jay Zhu, MD
2020-2021
Assistant Professor
University of New Mexico

Colette Inaba, MD
2019-2020
Clinical Assistant Professor
University of Washington Department of Surgery

Jin-Sol Oh, MD
2018-2019
Surgeon
Northwest Community Healthcare, NCH Medical Group

Annie Ehlers, MD, MPH
2018-2019
Assistant Professor
University of Michigan, Michigan Medicine

Rebecca Grace Lopez, MD
2017-2018
Surgeon
Kaiser Permanente – Georgia

Dustin Cummings, MD
2017-2018
Clinical Assistant Professor
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Dept. of Surgery

Monica Young, MD
2016-2017
Surgeon
Olympic Medical Group

Hope Jackson, MD
2016-2017
Assistant Professor
University of Maryland

Shani Belgrave-Heath, MD
2015-2016
Surgeon
Fayetteville VA Coastal Health Care System

Mark Wendling, MD
2015-2016
Surgeon
Aurora West Allis

Josh Mourot, MD
2014-2015
Surgeon
Roller Weight Loss & Advanced Surgery

Allison Porter, MD
2014-2015
Surgeon
Skagit Regional Clinics

Katie Moreno, MD
2013-2014
Surgeon
Providence Regional Medical Center

Robert Yates, MD
2013-2014
Clinical Assistant Professor
University of Washington Department of Surgery

Elizabeth Warner, MD
2012-2013
Surgeon
Springfield Clinic

Ellen Morrow, MD
2012-2014
Assistant Professor
University of Utah

Marcelo Hinojosa, MD
2011-2012
Acting Assistant Professor
University of Washington Department of Surgery

Edward Auyang, MD, MS
2011-2012
Assistant Professor
University of New Mexico

Yong Kwon, MD
2010-2011
Surgeon
Roller Weight Loss & Advanced Surgery

Eelco Wassenaar, MD, PhD
2009-2011
Surgeon
University Medical Center Utrecht

Rebecca Petersen, MD, MSc
2009-2011
Assistant Professor
University of Washington Department of Surgery

Saad Shebrain, MD
2008-2009
Assistant Professor
Michigan State University, School of Medicine, Kalamazoo

Saurabh Khandelwal, MD
2008-2009
Assistant Professor
University of Washington Department of Surgery

Ani Fleisig, MD
2007-2008
Clinical Assistant Professor
Kaiser Permanente - West Los Angeles

Sajida Ahad, MD
2006-2008
Assistant Professor
Southern Illinois University

Edgar Figueredo, MD
2005-2007
Assistant Professor
University of Washington Department of Surgery

Andrew Wright, MD
2005-2006
Assistant Professor
University of Washington Department of Surgery

LIVING IN SEATTLE

Salary and Benefits

University of Washington (UW) offers a wide range of benefits as part of your total compensation package:

Choose from top medical and dental insurance programs
Plan for your future with tax deferred investing through the UW retirement options
One month of vacation
Life and long-term disability insurance

More information can be found on the UW Benefits website.

CVES also provides fellows: a laptop, a shared office, and $2,000 to spend on conferences and professional development.

Where do fellows live?

Most residents live in one of the many neighborhoods that are walking or biking distance from one of our 5 main training hospitals. Whether you are looking for an apartment in the center of Seattle’s night life, a single-family home with a yard on a quiet street, or quick access to one of our parks, biking/running trails, or waterfronts, Seattle offers vibrant neighborhoods that make life outside the hospital even more enjoyable. Please explore the map below to learn more about these neighborhoods:

Survey results from current trainees show that about 50% live in our Capitol Hill neighborhood and around 50% pay $1500 and less in rent (per person).

Of current residents...

61% live with a partner
26% have a platonic roommate
11% have children
42% have pets
65% have house plants

Will I need a car?

Seattle is ranked as having the #1 best public transportation in the US and is one of the top 10 most walkable cities in the US. Although our fellows get around by walking, cycling, public transit, and more, the vast majority do have a personal vehicle. Not only is this good for commuting between hospitals (if interested), but it also makes weekend trips to the surrounding cities and parks even easier.

Things to do in Seattle

Seattle is home to Pike Place Market (the oldest continuously operating farmer’s market in the country), the Space Needle (the 605ft tower holding the world’s first revolving glass floor), the “original” Starbucks (the actual original Starbucks was a few blocks away before it moved to its current spot 5 years later), and so many more nationally recognized places and buildings you can visit during your time here. The entire state of Washington also has a myriad of different landscapes where you can involve yourself in various activities. With our beautiful state (and national!) parks, scenic islands, breathtaking lakes, and awe-inspiring glaciers, you’re sure to find an adventure if you ever seek one.