Aurora Health Care

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Program Director: Wesley Papenfuss, MD, FACS

Website: Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship | Aurora Health Care

Aurora Health Care is the largest health care system in Wisconsin treating over 8,600 new cancers per year, with 1/3 treated at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, the flagship hospital and quaternary center for the 14-hospital system.  Aurora Health Care recently Merged with Advocate Health System in northern Illinois, and Advocate-Aurora Health is the tenth largest health system in the United States.  Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center is located in the heart of Milwaukee and has over 700 beds serving as the central hub for the complex surgical oncology fellowship.  The majority of the clinical rotations will occur within Milwaukee.  This fellowship is designed to provide the graduating fellow with a robust experience in general surgical oncology which will include exposure to hepatobiliary, pancreatic, soft tissue and sarcoma, melanoma, foregut, colorectal, breast, endocrine, thoracic, urologic and reconstructive surgeries and all other facets of general surgical oncology.  Fellows will participate in open, laparoscopic and robotic approaches, as well as microwave and radiofrequency ablations, HIPEC and IRE (Nano knife).  Since we have no surgical residency, the fellows participate in all the cases.  Our fellows typically exceed the case volume requirements of the ACGME/SSO fellowships within their first year of training.  Fellows will also rotate through medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgical pathology and gynecologic oncology.  Other rotations include thoracic oncology, head and neck oncology, endocrine surgery, breast surgery, orthopedic oncology and urologic oncology.  Clinical, translational and laboratory research will also be encouraged and facilitated. Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center has the only Nano knife device for irreversible electroporation of unresectable pancreatic and liver tumors in Wisconsin, a HIPEC program and plans to incorporate intra-operative radiation therapy.  We are a national Pancreas Foundation designated center (the only one in Wisconsin), and a Sarcoma Center of Excellence.

About the Program

The Aurora Health Care Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship program is a two-year post-residency accredited training program that accepts one fellow per year.

This fellowship is designed to provide a robust experience in general surgical oncology including exposure to hepatobiliary, pancreatic, soft tissue and sarcoma, melanoma, foregut, colorectal, breast, endocrine, thoracic, urologic and reconstructive surgeries and all other facets of general surgical oncology, including robotic surgery

The first-year fellow spends:

• 6 blocks on the surgical oncology/hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) service
• 2 blocks dedicated to research
• 2 blocks on breast surgical oncology
• 1 block on medical oncology, 1 block shared of pathology and radiation oncology

The second-year fellow spends:

• 7 blocks on surgical/hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) service
• 2 blocks on research
• 2 blocks on elective
• 2 blocks filled with colorectal/gynecologic and endocrine/head & neck surgery

Oncology Call

Fellows take weekly pager call from home when on clinical service. Fellows will be expected to take a certain amount of weekend call when on the surgical HPB service.  Fellows are expected to participate in any emergency or follow-up care relating to their patients (surgical and non-surgical).

Rotations

The clinical rotations will occur within Milwaukee; because we have no surgical residency, fellows participate in all cases and typically exceed the case volume requirements of the ACGME and Society of Surgical Oncology Fellowships within their first year.

Meetings and Conferences

The Aurora Health Care Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship offers multiple educational conferences with strong faculty participation.

The curriculum includes a weekly faculty-run educational conference, journal clubs, case conferences, and weekly multidisciplinary tumor boards.

Fellows participate and present in rotation-specific multidisciplinary tumor board conferences. Presentation at local, regional and national meetings is encouraged, and our fellows have been prolific in both authoring publications and presenting across the country.

Research

Fellows in the Complex General Surgical Oncology program have 4 blocks to pursue clinical, basic science, and translational research. Fellows can work with various faculty members based on their research interests and are encouraged to deeply explore cancer and its treatment.

Time is scheduled to allow fellows to start several projects and continue their research activities throughout their two-years of training. During the research blocks, fellows do not have any primary clinical or service call responsibilities, enabling dedication to academic endeavors. Fellows can develop their own research and are encouraged to present at local, regional and national meetings.

Please be sure to check out our website for more information.

Eligibility and Applications

The program participates in the fellowship match through NRMP annually and accepts one fellow per year. Applications must be submitted through ERAS. Prior to appointment in the program, the fellows must meet the following:

• Satisfactory completion of a general surgery residency program accredited by ACGME or general surgery residency program located in Canada accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
• Be certified or admissible to examination by the American Board of Surgery.

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