Program Description

The number of breast surgeries performed at the UCSF Breast Care Center is the highest among medical centers in Northern California. Since its inception fifteen years ago, our fellowship has become highly competitive. This year, we are accepting two general surgeons into our program.

The clinical breast surgery fellowship is a one-year intensive clinical experience in all aspects of general and oncology breast surgery. This fellowship is offered to candidates who have completed a general surgery, plastic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, or other surgical subspecialty residency program and who are board-eligible/certified in their respective surgical specialty.

The fellowship encompasses all aspects of breast surgery, including diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the breast, and all clinical aspects of breast oncology. These include pathology, radiology (mammography, ultrasound, and MRI and their related biopsies), and medical and radiation oncology. Fellows have primary responsibility for running the clinical breast service and working with general surgery residents at R3 level. The dedicated breast fellow serves as first assistant on all breast surgical cases.

The Fellows will also have the opportunity to work with any of the exceptional members of the Breast Oncology Program, to develop a meaningful research project.

The Fellows receive an active academic and didactic teaching experience, including the weekly multidisciplinary breast tumor board, new patient conferences, and journal reviews. The fellows are also offered the opportunity to attend these three national meetings: the American Society of Breast Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Breast surgery fellows are expected to participate in the presentations at one of these conferences. 
During the course of the year, the breast fellows will:

• Become knowledgeable about the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care of patients with breast tumors
• Collaborate with our interdisciplinary team, which includes basic scientists, oncologists, radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, pathologist, radiation therapists and surgeons
• Become knowledgeable about preoperative radiology and nuclear medicine studies and minimally invasive and regular surgical techniques
• Take courses in outcomes, clinical trials design and management, and ethics
• Participate in designing and conducting clinical trials
• Write clinical papers and present at local, national, and international breast surgical, general surgical and breast oncology meetings

Our objective is to help talented surgeons become knowledgeable, skillful, and caring breast specialists, who will go on to become leaders in the field. At the completion of their fellowship training, our fellows are exceptionally well-trained and versed in all aspects of breast oncology, including surgery, medical oncology, and clinical research.

Recent fellows have taken clinical attending positions at both university and community programs. Examples include, University of Alabama, University of California San Diego, University of Utah as well as the Kaiser system hospitals. We are proud of the success of our program to educate young surgeons from the USA and other countries.

Our clinical faculty is comprised of:

• Michael D. Alvarado, MD
• Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA
• Cheryl A. Ewing, MD
• Rita Mukhtar, MD
• Jasmine M. Wong, MD
• Jordan Jackson, MD
• Julia Chandler, MD

To apply for the UCSF Breast Surgical Oncology fellowship, you will need:

1. A personal statement of intent to pursue a career in breast surgery
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Three (3) letters of recommendation
4. Proof of citizenship status or copy of a work permit, board certification and CA license application

This training program is a participant in The Society of Surgical Oncology Matching Program. For an application for the Breast Surgical Oncology fellowship please contact:

Breast Fellowship Training Program
Society of Surgical Oncology
85 West Algonquin Road, Suite 550
Arlington Heights, Illinois 60005
For further information please call (847) 427-1400, or fax (847) 427-9656

or:

Michael Alvarado, MD
Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship
UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center
1825 4th Street
PCMB 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94158
For further information please call (415) 514-7369, or fax (415) 353-9571