School of Medicine

Bariatric Surgery Fellowship

Program Overview

Bariatric Surgery Fellowship – Non-ACGME Accredited

Number of Fellows (per year): 2

Number of Faculty: 8

Eligibility: Board eligible/board certified general surgeon

 

Division of Time

Percentage of Time Spent in Clinical Activity: 80%

Percentage of Time Spent in Research Activity: 20%

 

Case Volumes

7 Fellows performed between 241 to 332 cases excluding endoscopic procedures.  Procedures are primarily bariatric including:

 

Strengths of Program

With a high ratio of faculty to metabolic surgery fellows, the fellow is offered close one-on-one attention.  Fellows are exposed to all major procedures including complex revisional procedures with highly experienced faculty.  The fellow will rotate at the University Medical Center New Orleans (UMCNO), Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, and Women’s hospital in Baton Rouge. 

University Medical Center New Orleans, which opened August of 2015, is a state-of-the-art 440 beds academic medical center and Level I trauma center. UMCNO has three Robotic Platforms: One dual and one single console Da Vinci Robot System (Xi) ideal for teaching robotic bariatric surgery. A Senhance Surgical System provides insight into emerging robotic platforms that are slowly making their way into mainstream bariatric practice.  All operating rooms have LED wall mounted video monitors for all minimally invasive colon and rectal surgeries. LSU-UMCNO also cares for a high-risk patient population, which offers a high level of complex disease management.

A Bariatric Gastroenterologist works closely with the program and helps provide access to complex endoscopic procedures for treating bariatric complications and ultimately will provide access to primary bariatric endoscopic procedures.

Clinic and/or Office Experience

University Medical Center for Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgery has clinics most days of the week where the fellow will learn how to manage a MBSAQIP center of excellence when not in endoscopy or the operating room.  Students, residents, fellows and attendings all work together to cover the clinics.

 

Interaction with General Surgery Residents

The LSUHSC General Surgery Residency graduates around 11 Chief residents per year covering 3 cites in Louisiana (New Orleans, Lafayette and Baton Rouge). The relationship of the GS and Bariatric program is collegial and interactive. The Bariatric service at UMC includes a general surgery PGY-3. The service also has PA students and third year medical students. The fellow will oversee the Bariatric service, with attending supervision but with ample opportunity for supervised independent clinical and didactic teaching, as they progress through the fellowship.

 

Conferences

Slightly varied depending on the site (New Orleans/Baton Rouge).  Both sites participate in a combined weekly meeting which follows a structured didactic curriculum with several research meetings spaced out through the year.  Other programs have been invited to participate due to the rich discussion following these short presentations.  A monthly complex case conference is a great opportunity to investigate treatment of complex patient scenarios and discuss varied approaches to difficult revisional cases.

Both sites have their own General Surgery Grand Rounds, Morbidity & Mortally Conference, and weekly pre-op conference which are shared with residents and students.

 

Esophageal Physiology

Opportunities for interpretation of High Resolution Manometry, Functional Lumen Impedance Planimetry (FLIP), and ambulatory pH testing.

 

Outside Rotations

N/A

 

Research Year

Available as noted on the home page.  Reach out to Program Director for more information.

 

Requirement for Academic Productivity

The fellowship council requires all fellows at every program to participate in research activity.  Our goal is for each fellow to create 2 videos and 2 publishable quality manuscripts during their time at LSU.  If a fellow has a project accepted for presentation at a national meeting, LSU will cover the cost of travel and lodging to present at those meetings.  Fellows commonly attend SAGES and ASMBS every year under these provisions.

 

Contact

Amelia Haag, MA
Fellowship Coordinator, Bariatric Surgery
(504) 903-9000
ahaag1@lsuhsc.edu