University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center

The University of Kentucky Division of Surgical Oncology and Markey Cancer Center are excited to announce an ACGME-approved, two-year clinical fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology. One applicant will be selected every other year until initial accreditation status is reviewed in 2028. The Markey Cancer Center, led by Dr. Mark Evers, is the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, registering nearly 110,000 outpatient cancer encounters, treating over 3,800 inpatients, accruing over 4,000 patients in clinical trials, and awarded over $58 million in research funding in 2025. The Division of Surgical Oncology, led by Dr. Joseph Kim, consists of 8 core faculty and 16 providers overall, and provides specialized multidisciplinary care with expertise in all major domains of surgical oncology, including adoptive cell therapies, hepatic artery infusion, and peritoneal surface malignancy. Dedicated basic science and clinical research opportunities exist with several faculty labs for fellows.

Our mission is to provide comprehensive and well-rounded training experiences that will develop competent surgical oncologists who can care for patients in an academic, community, or private practice setting. A unique emphasis of this program will be exposure to health disparities related to patients living in Appalachia who comprise a high proportion of our patient population.

Training Program

The Complex General Surgical Oncology fellowship aims to train competent surgeons who provide appropriate and safe surgical care for patients with benign and malignant conditions of breast, skin, soft tissue, gastrointestinal, pancreaticobiliary, and endocrine systems and who are ready to enter independent practice in all settings. Fellows will lead multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment for patients with cancer, will be competent in discussing end-of-life care with an emphasis on patient-centered decision-making, and the faculty will foster an environment of inquiry to support research and advancement in the field of surgical oncology.

Clinical Rotations

Inpatient services occur at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, a 945-bed facility including a Level I trauma center, 35 operating rooms, advanced endoscopy, and interventional radiology services 24/7. Markey Cancer Center ambulatory care is undergoing major expansion with a new $1B, 550,000-square-foot ambulatory care and surgery building, adding 400 beds to the medical center, scheduled to open in spring of 2028. The cancer center offers access to all major oncology clinical services and resources including shared biospecimen and biostatistics. The Division of Surgical Oncology is divided into three teams with general surgery residents, medical students, and advanced practice providers for all inpatient services. Faculty emphasize open and minimally invasive surgical treatment allowing for a balanced surgical experience. Rotations are designed to be one-month preceptor models, allowing for individual faculty/fellow teaching, coaching, and mentorship in the operating room, clinic, and inpatient services. Fellows will complete the required medical oncology, radiation oncology, and pathology rotations with ample time allocated for elective rotations based on individual career goals and interest. Throughout the program, fellows participate in multidisciplinary tumor board, weekly conference, perioperative care, and longitudinal follow-up. Four months of dedicated research support faculty-mentored work in clinical trials, health-services, population-based, translational, educational, or outcomes-based investigations.

Didactics

The two-year didactic teaching conference will cover the essential clinical principles of surgical oncology while emphasizing practice-changing studies, patient quality, safety, and clinical decision-making. Weekly conferences include pre-operative case conferences, morbidity and mortality, SCORE-informed didactics, and faculty-led presentations. Quarterly multidisciplinary journal clubs and state-of-the-art, industry-sponsored education will be utilized to promote research and scholarly productivity and build fellow networks for future collaboration. Broad topics in the curriculum include basic tumor biology, biostatistics, clinical trial design, NCI cooperative group structure, translational trial design, ethics, and surgical informatics, among others.

Research

CGSO fellows have access to the full breadth and depth of the Markey Comprehensive Cancer Center Research Programs: Cancer Prevention and Control, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, and Translational Oncology. As a Comprehensive Cancer Center, Markey is also a full-member institute in multiple cooperative clinical trials groups in the National Cancer Institute, including Alliance, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), and NRG Oncology. Markey also offers research and professional development programming in-person, virtually, and asynchronously in subjects such as shared resource facility utilization, bioinformatics, grantsmanship, and team science management.

Fellows will pursue faculty-mentored inquiry aligned with their personal and professional interests in cancer biology, health disparities, cancer center organizational structure, and cancer center leadership. Dissemination of research is encouraged and supported by the division. These experiences will position fellows for future leadership opportunities in system-level, regional, and national cooperative group cancer care.

Meetings and Conferences

While on clinical services, fellows will participate in tumor boards, weekly surgical oncology conference including surgical oncology morbidity and mortality conference, as well as the Department of Surgery Grand Rounds and Morbidity and Mortality conference. Second-year fellows will lead division-specific didactics.

Eligibility and Application Requirements

University of Kentucky participates in the NRMP Complex Surgical Oncology Fellowship match program and accepts applications through ERAS. Applicants must have satisfactory completion of an ACGME or equivalent accredited general surgery residency program and be certified by or eligible for American Board of Surgery certification.

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