Program Description

The clinical breast surgery fellowship is a competitive one-year intensive clinical experience in all aspects of general and oncology breast surgery. This fellowship is offered to board eligible or certified general surgeons.

The emphasis is on individuals with a proven and dedicated interest in breast disease and related research as a long-term career. It is an intensive clinical fellowship encompassing 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 work with general surgery residents at the R1 and R3 level.

The dedicated breast fellow serves as first assistant on all breast surgical cases. The fellow will also work with a Spore member (Breast Oncology Program) to develop a meaningful research project. The fellow receives an active academic and didactic teaching experience with weekly focused multidisciplinary breast tumor board, new patient conferences, and journal review. In addition, there are three National meetings.

 The American Society of Clinical Oncology, Society of Surgical Oncology, & San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium the Breast Surgery fellows are expected to participant in presentations. The fellows are exceptionally well trained and versed in all aspects of Breast oncology, including surgery, medical oncology, and clinical research at the completion of their fellowship training.

The number of breast surgeries performed at UCSF is the highest among medical centers in Northern California. This year, we are accepting one general surgeon into our fellowship program. During the course of stay this surgeon 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.

We have in the past, and continue to educate young surgeons from the USA and other countries. Our objective is to help these talented surgeons become knowledgeable, skillful, and safe breast surgeons who will become academic leaders in the field. There is little doubt in our minds that the well educated and trained breast surgeon will be sought after because of superior clinical results.

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

We also have surgical fellows doing basic science research, working closely with our research fellows to help with their clinical investigations.

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

1. A letter of intent
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Three (3) letters of reference.

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, M.D.
Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship
UCSF Department of Surgery
Box 1710
San Francisco, CA 94115
For further information please call (415) 353-7908, or fax (415) 353-9571.