Preceptor: Christopher L. Wolfgang, MD, PhD, Christopher.Wolfgang@NYULangone.org
Coordinator: Trish McGinty – 212-263-3892
Contact: Trish McGinty, Trish.McGinty@NYULangone.org
Telephone: 212-263-3892

Prerequisites: NYU Students may register for this elective after completion of Surgery & Medicine Clerkships.

Who should enroll in this elective?

Students who are considering careers in pancreatic surgery and hepatobiliary surgery (HPB), with an option to gain exposure to liver transplantation are invite to enroll.

Clinical sites

Manhattan & Tisch

Description

The NYU HPB service encompasses pancreatic surgery and hepatobiliary surgery, with an option to gain exposure to liver transplantation. The NYU HPB service (Ranson Service) is a highvolume HPB Surgery program that performs over 500 HPB operations per year. In addition, the program performs over 100 liver transplants per year.

Students will be exposed to standard open pancreatic and liver resections, robotic pancreatic and liver resections, vascular procedures for locally invasive tumors, ablation of liver tumors, outpatient clinic, ward care and SICU care. Patients are cared for in the context of a multi-disciplinary team and the student is expected to attend at least one multidisciplinary clinic and tumor board each week. The options include pancreatic cancer multidisciplinary clinic, pancreatic cystic neoplasm clinic, pancreatitis/auto-islet clinic, high-risk pancreatic cancer clinic and liver tumor clinic. Through participation in the rotation students will have the opportunity to interact with surgeons, radiologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, gastroenterologists, medical genetics specialists and nutrition specialists. The service has four weekly conferences – HPB research, Ranson HPB case conference, Ranson HPB didactic lecture conference and departmental morbidity and mortality conference. Attendance at the clinical conference is mandatory and the research conference is optional as for all house staff on the service.

Students will work in a collegial environment with highly engaged faculty surgeons who share a passion for teaching and an interest in your career development. The faculty on the service are involved in teaching and are among the world academic leaders in HPB Surgery and Transplant. Students will be integrated into the house-staff team which will often include NYU medical students. Students will spend a significant amount of time with faculty surgeons in clinic, on rounds and in the OR. In addition to exposure to HPB surgery, students will have the opportunity to establish long-lasting friendships and mentorship with members of the team. Students will be treated with respect. The NYU program strongly adheres to work hour restrictions and encourages you to take advantage of what NYC has to offer outside of the hospital.

Objectives of the Elective

By the end of this elective, through daily contact with patients and didactics, you will:

1. Gain exposure to the field of HPB surgery
2. Gain basic understanding of HPB disease – both medical and surgical management
3. Enhance understanding of tumor biology
4. Participate in clinical care of HPB patients including preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative management
5. Refine skills in gathering clinical information, physical exam and presentation of clinic patients
6. Refine skills in doing H&P, progress notes and outpatient clinical notes
7. Gain exposure to patient care in the context of a multidisciplinary team
8. Refine organizational skills, focusing on details and precise accurate clinical communication
9. Become comfortable in the OR
10. Learn basic technical skills such as suturing, exposure of tissue, dissecting, anatomy and proper electrocautery use.

Responsibilities of the Student While On This Elective

By enrolling in this elective, you have agreed to:

1. Integrate with the NYU resident team and participate in service activities – inpatient care/rounding, clinic and operating room
2. Be given graded responsibilities with careful oversight. At no time will you be expected to perform procedure or tasks with which you are not familiar
3. See patients in clinic with graded responsibility over time
4. Be assigned no more than one in-patient at a time with graded responsibility and oversight
5. Be present on daily activities unless team is notified otherwise
6. Attend the three mandatory conferences and at least one tumor board of their choice each week
7. Clinical presentations in clinic, on rounds and at conference
8. Participate in at least 35 contact hours of education each week
9. Provide communication of any excused absences to the Office of Student Affairs (excused absence form) and to the elective coordinator, in a timely fashion
10. Arrive in a timely fashion to all locations to which you are assigned

Key Responsibilities of the preceptor/residents/faculty while you are on Elective

By accepting your enrollment in this introductory elective, the preceptor agreed to:

1. Clearly communicate their expectations of you
2. Maintain a supportive clinical learning environment
3. Ensure you have access to a broad case mix and clinical experience
4. Provide the education necessary for you to gain an understanding of the patients pathology reflective of this specialty
5. Provide feedback on your clinical skills

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Morning		Ranson Case Conference	Benign Pancreas Disease Conference (Biweekly - Optional)	Departmental M&M	Liver Tumor Conference (Optional)
Afternoon	HPB Research Conference (Optional)	Ranson Didactic Lecture Conference
		Pancreas Cancer  Tumor Board  (Optional)

Method of Assessment

1. The student will receive one official evaluation completed by Christopher Wolfgang. The evaluation will be a consensus report with input from faculty, residents and APP.
2. The evaluation form can be submitted by the home institution and that format will be used; otherwise
3. A standard NYU medical student (either clerk or sub intern) evaluation will be submitted to the home institution

Scheduling information

Duration: Four weeks

Months offered: All year

Students per elective block: 1

Report To: Christopher Wolfgang, MD, PhD

Information For Visiting MD Students

For visiting students, the application can be found here:

In addition to the NYU Application, please submit a copy of your CV, letter of endorsement from a medical school faculty at their institution, medical school transcript and USMLE transcript.