Advanced GI MIS / Bariatric Surgery Fellowship | Department of Surgery | School of Medicine

Program Overview

About the program

The Advanced GI MIS / Bariatric Surgery Fellowship program at Kingston Health Sciences Centre is designed to focus primarily on bariatric surgery; however, fellows will also have opportunities to participate in advanced minimally invasive foregut (hiatal and paraesophageal hernia repairs), minimally invasive inguinal and ventral hernia surgery, upper GI endoscopy and open abdominal wall reconstruction. Our minimally invasive approaches include both laparoscopy and robotics.

It is the goal of our fellowship program to train surgeons for independent practice in bariatric surgery with expertise in minimally invasive foregut surgery, complex abdominal wall reconstruction and hernia repairs.

Our program is very unique. It is relatively small with 3 faculty, but has a significant operative volume.

The goals of our fellowship are to:

Provide structured educational and training experience necessary to achieve expertise in primary and revisional Bariatric Surgery.
Teach surgeons minimally invasive techniques for advanced foregut surgery.
Teach surgeons minimally invasive inguinal hernia and ventral hernia repairs, as well as abdominal wall reconstruction.
Teach surgeons advanced diagnostic and therapeutic upper GI endoscopy for pre-operative and post-operative assessment of patients.
Provide surgeons with guidance and the resources to develop independent investigational research projects in health professions education and/or clinical outcomes research.

Quick Facts

Fellowship program was started in 2019
Affiliated with Queen’s University
Annual procedure volume:
- 250-275 advanced upper GI/bariatric procedures
- 20 minimally invasive inguinal and ventral hernias
- 10-20 abdominal wall reconstruction
- 75-100 endoscopic procedures

Program Leadership

Boris Zevin MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS
Program Director
Associate Professor of Surgery
Director, Kingston Bariatric Centre of Excellence

Peter Szasz MD, PhD, FRCSC
Associate Program Director
Assistant Professor of Surgery

Clinical Training

Curriculum

The one-year experience will include clinical, academic and research components. The curriculum will adhere to the Fellowship Council and ASMBS Core Curriculum.
The minimally invasive experience will include training in primary and revisional bariatric surgery, diagnostic and therapeutic upper endoscopy, minimally invasive foregut surgery, abdominal wall reconstruction and hernia surgery.
The fellow will be trained in methods of instruction for basic and advanced minimally invasive skills in animate and inanimate models, as well as in the operating room.
The fellow will be given the opportunity and will be expected to participate in investigational projects in health professions education, outcomes research in bariatric and foregut surgery, and others.
Fellow is expected to participate in 2-3 OR days per week, 1 clinic day per week (bariatric, upper GI and hernia) and ½ day of endoscopy per week. 20% of the time (1 day per week) is dedicated for research and other academic pursuits.

Training Sites

Clinical material will be obtained at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (Kingston General Hospital and Hotel Dieu Hospital). Kingston Health Sciences has 14 operating room, 554 beds and 87 ICU beds.
Kingston General Hospital is a tertiary care hospital with full complement of OR, ICU, and imaging services.

Hotel Dieu Hospital is an ambulatory hospital with OR, Endoscopy and clinic spaces. It is also the location of the Kingston Bariatric Centre of Excellence.

Kingston General Hospital and Hotel Dieu Hospital are within 2 km of each other.

Expectations for the Fellow

Clinical

Evaluate patients preoperatively and post-operatively in the bariatric, upper GI and hernia clinics.
Assist and perform surgery under the supervision of the teaching faculty.
Perform independent general surgical procedures. There is an option of taking independent call in the junior attending role with the backup of a senior faculty member.
Provide postoperative care to the bariatric, upper GI and hernia patients in conjunction with resident staff and physician assistant under the supervision of teaching faculty.
Assist with teaching medical students and residents basic and advanced laparoscopic procedures in the operating room.
Maintain an up to date case log for all procedures done in the fellowship year through the fellowship council website.
Meet the educational requirements needed to practice safe and effective bariatric surgery as per ASMBS core training curriculum

Educational and Teaching Responsibilities

Prepare and attend monthly bariatric surgery province-wide morbidity and mortality rounds.
Prepare and attend monthly bariatric surgery journal club meetings
Attend monthly multidisciplinary bariatric case conferences at Kingston Bariatric Centre of Excellence – Hotel Dieu Site.
Attend Division of General Surgery Quality Improvement conference when cases involving bariatric and upper GI surgery patients are presented.
Participate in instruction of basic and advanced laparoscopic techniques to residents in an animal lab and simulation lab at Queen’s University.
Attend and present research projects at local, national and international meetings (i.e. SAGES, Obesity Week, ACS Clinical Congress, CAGS, etc.).

Research

Fellow will write a minimum of 1 manuscript and submit a minimum of 1 abstract for posters/oral presentation during the academic year. Potential meetings for presentation include SAGES, IFSO, Obesity Week, ACS Clinical Congress, CAGS, and others.
Funding is available for the fellow to attend meetings to present their research.

Professional Development

Fellows are required to formally meet with the Program Director and/or the Associate Program Director on a quarterly basis to complete and review their evaluations. These meetings also provide the fellow with the opportunity to ensure their professional goals and objectives are being met.
Our program provides fellows with opportunities to grow their leadership skills. These opportunities include:

Supervising residents and medical students
The option of taking junior attending level call with supervision and backup of faculty.
Writing 1 or more manuscripts

Alumni

The Bariatric Surgery Fellowship at Kingston Health Sciences Centre was founded in 2019. Previous fellows have garnered both academic and non-academic hospital appointments.

Dr. Khalifah Alyatama (2024 - 2025) - Clinical Fellow, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Dr. Danielle Mackenzie (2023 – 2024) – General Surgeon at Lakeridge Health, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada

Dr. Mohammed Aldamry (2021 – 2023) – Assistant Professor in Bariatrics and Upper Gastrointestinal surgery, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Dr. Laurie Fasola (2019 - 2020) – General Surgeon at Windsor Regional Hospital, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Living in Kingston

Kingston is a thriving city rich in beauty, heritage, and culture that has been welcoming newcomers since it was first founded in 1673. Kingston today is a major centre for commerce, education, and health services and home to an incredibly diverse and supportive medical community. Over 1,000 medical students, residents, and clinical fellows are enroled in programs at Queen's University and 8.2% of the city's population are health care professionals, one of the highest percentages in the country.

We hope that you will consider making Kingston home for the duration of your fellowship training.

Please visit our Living in Kingston page for additional information about housing and cost of living, child care, attractions, museums, parks, schools, etc.

Contact Us

For questions, please contact our Program Administrator:

KGH.DepartmentOfSurgery@kingstonhsc.ca