The Section of Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic and Gastrointestinal (HPB-GI) Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital is a large, national surgical referral center for disorders of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and GI tract. Founded in 1992, the Section has acquired a reputation as one of the highest volume liver and pancreas surgery units in the United States. Although the Section remains a high-volume center for open surgical procedures for conditions of the liver, pancreas and biliary tract, its surgeons have greatly increased their volume of minimally invasive operations for these diseases – especially laparoscopic liver and pancreatic surgery.
The Section’s faculty members also are involved in the development of the discipline of HPB surgery. A list of publications emanating from the Section in the past five years is appended (see “Publications” on menu bar). Members are involved in both clinical and basic studies, and fellows have an opportunity to be involved in clinical studies during fellowship.
In July 2006, the Section established a one-year clinical fellowship in HPB surgery for graduates of accredited general surgery training programs in the United States or Canada. The fellowship transitioned from a one-year fellowship to a two-year fellowship in 2020 and it includes both clinical training in surgery and a clinical research component. Operative care is provided at Barnes-Jewish Hospital where the trainee is involved in treating a broad array and high volume of surgical patients with complex HPB conditions. There is a wide range of HPB cases of both malignant and benign disease. The fellow is involved in all aspects of peri-operative care in addition to assessment of new patients and follow-up of existing patients in the outpatient clinic. The HPB fellow works predominantly with surgeons in the HPB, Surgical Oncology and Transplant sections, where the fellow will rotate up to three months on the Liver Transplant Service. Dominic Sanford, MD, serves as fellowship Program Director, Natasha Leigh-Matijakovich, MD serves as Associate Program Director and Roheena Panni, MD within the section of HPB. Ryan Fields, MD and Trang Nguyen, MD are both within the Surgical Oncology Section. William Chapman, MD, Adeel Khan, MD, Maria Majella Doyle, MD and Darren Cullinan, MD are all within the Transplant Section.
In addition, there are ample opportunities and resources for clinical research and educational pursuits. The fellow is expected to participate in teaching rounds and will be an important contributor to the education of our general surgery residents and medical students. A weekly, multi-disciplinary conference is coordinated by the HPB and transplant fellows.
Applications for the Washington University HPB Fellowship are made through the Fellowship Council website: http://www.fellowshipcouncil.org/applicants-for-fellowship/.
Prospective fellows (graduates of general surgery training programs in the United States or Canada) with questions may contact the fellowship director, Dominic Sanford, MD and program coordinator Angela at 314-362-8026.