Fellowship

Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery

The Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Fellowship at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is a three-year, non-ACGME-accredited, AAGL-approved program that admits one fellow per year.

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Obstetrics and Gynecology

The Division of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center established an AAGL-approved fellowship in 2010.

Program Overview

The program has developed a three-year curriculum with career development integrated throughout the training process to maximize clinical/surgical exposure and research/education time. Protected time will include time for research, required coursework and formal training in teaching. Fellows will have approximately 30% career development time in the first year, 80% in the second year, and 40% in the third year.

The program offers a high-volume surgical practice utilizing both conventional and robot-assisted laparoscopic platforms as well as vaginal surgery and vNOTES. It includes fellowship-trained MIGS faculty as well as associated OB/GYN faculty from other GYN subspecialties. The surgical service focuses on the management of complex benign gynecologic diseases. The fellowship has a particular interest in pelvic pain with a dedicated multidisciplinary team for Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain. Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is a 550-plus-bed academic medical center located in Hershey, Pa. The hospital is equipped with 35 operating rooms, including eight laparoscopic suites. Each fellow has historically averaged more than 350 surgical cases per year during their clinically focused years.

The fellowship has integrated a master’s degree into the Minimally Invasive GYN Surgery curriculum. Upon matching with theprogram, fellows will choose from a pathway in either public health or clinical research. Current MPH pathways include: Community and Behavioral Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Global Health. The Clinical Research pathway is focused on the development of clinician scientists and provides fundamentals to ensure the successful incorporation of research into a medical career.

Fellows can also receive formal training as medical educators through the Woodward Center for Excellence in Health Sciences Education. Fellows have the opportunity to complete educator development workshops to develop tools for use as future leaders in medical education. The fellows educate residents in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology through didactic lectures, multidisciplinary conferences, inpatient rounding and participation in other resident/student education sessions.

Dedicated research time is an important part of protected career development time. Fellows have a multi-disciplinary research/mentorship team from both the department of OB/GYN and the school of Public Health, statistical support and funding for proposed research. Fellows are encouraged to develop research that will not only meet thesis and manuscript requirements, but also allow them to have preliminary data that will facilitate applications for external research funding beyond the fellowship if that is their career path of choice.

Our mission statement: To develop the next generation of academic leaders in complex clinical and surgical gynecology.

Our vision: We achieve this through comprehensive clinical and surgical immersion, graduate level research training and professional and career sponsorship.

For additional information, please explore this website or feel free to contact us.

Learn More about the Fellowship

The Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Fellowship participates in the AAGL fellowship application and match program. The fellowship will not be participating in the 2022-2024 Fellowship cycle. The fellowship anticipates participating in the 2023-2025 Fellowship cycle.

For additional information on future cycles, visit the AAGL website.