Transplant Fellowships

[zinjanthropus]

I know that there have been threads in the past regarding transplant surgery as a specialty - however, after searching, I didn't feel like those previous threads specifically addressed a few questions I have regarding the field and, more specifically, regarding fellowships in kidney/liver/pancreas transplant surgery.

1. Is transplant surgery a board certifiable field? If so, why isn't it listed on the FREIDA page? If not, does it still use the NRMP process?

2. Do transplant fellows generally earn the standard PGY-6 and 7 pay rates from the associated university?

3. From what I can gather, this is not a particulary competitive field in Gen Surg. Would it be possible to complete a GS residency and then match into this field without taking time off during GS residency to do research/etc in transplant? I can handle 7 years but not 8 or 9.

4. I have heard nothing positive about transplant surgery from gen surgery residents. However, to me the field, while demanding, is appealing. It seems as though this one specialty that will never be minimized by a field outside of surgery or non-invasive techinques. Does anyone have anything positive to say about the field? Anyone hear considering it?

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

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[Mr. McDuck]

I was curious about numbers 1 and 3, so I looked it up on the ASTS (Am. Soc. for Transplant Surgeons).

1. Upon completion of an accredited program, you receive a certificate of completion, provided you keep a case log and do the required number of cases (I think).

3. As far as competitiveness goes, all 24 US (US Senior and USIMG) applicants matched this year, and 18 of the 21 US Seniors and both of the USIMGs matched last year. So...you should be fine.

4. I really like vascular surgery right now, but transplant seems interesting to me (though, I am not a general surgery resident).

 

[vent]

1. it is not board field, no certification. and fellowships are accredited by ASTS and not acgme, so no 80-hour rule etc and last time I was interviewing in a program where both fellows and attendings were working 100-120 hours, straight.

2. yearly salary like your level pgy-6-8-9.......after may be 300-400K

3. not competative because of "awesome" lifestyle during and after fellowship, patients morbidity and mortality (btw 95% liver transplant pt are Hep C +, so one pock during a surgery and you can change your life permanently). a lot of USIMG in field even w/o prior US training, because of demand.


4. the only positive thing I can tell you are transplant surgeons have really good technics, that is the only good thing probably.

 

[Mr. McDuck]

1. it is not board field, no certification. and fellowships are accredited by ASTS and not acgme, so no 80-hour rule etc and last time I was interviewing in a program where both fellows and attendings were working 100-120 hours, straight.

Erm...

In order to receive a certificate of completion of an ASTS accredited Abdominal Transplant Fellowship Training Program a fellow must perform a minimum number of transplants in the Principal Role over the course of the two-year fellowship for each particular organ the program is accredited to train.

Is there another type of certification?

 

[vent]

Well , There is no BOARD OF TRANSPLANT SURGERY, after 2 years of fellowship even there is no exam to sit (I guess), like after many other fellowships (Vascualr, plastics, THoracic etc). You just get a certificate from ASTS, and you usually board certified in general surgery not in transplant surgery.

The certification in your text means a certificate that you can hang on your wall (just a sheet of paper), but you cannot call yourself a Board Certified in Transplant Surgeon since there is not such a entity.

 

[Winged Scapula]

As others have noted, there is no Board of Transplant Surgery, so completion of a fellowship only confers a certificate and "bragging rights", if you will, not Board Certification - you will be eligible for such in General Surgery however.

It is not listed on FREIDA because they only list ACGME-accredited fellowships. Some programs utilize the NRMP: http://www.nrmp.org/fellow/match_name/abdom_trans_surg/about.html but others do not - these would require that you do a little searching on your own for them.

While research is not required, it is considered a plus. You will be paid either at a minimum PGY-6 level (regardless of what your real level is) or at your actual PGY level - program dependent; there are no "laws" regarding this.

Something positive about Transplant? Well...you get to watch some Nick at Night shows in the lounge while awaiting the organ.

 

[tussy]

The problem with transplant is that there are lots of fellows, but very few jobs when you're done. They keep training fellows because in order to run a transplant program you need fellows to look after the patients and help with the organ retrievals. So basically fellows are cheap labour but have very little chance of getting a good transplant job when they're done.

I would seriously research this thouroughly if you really think you want to do transplant.

 

[Mr. McDuck]

Well , There is no BOARD OF TRANSPLANT SURGERY, after 2 years of fellowship even there is no exam to sit (I guess), like after many other fellowships (Vascualr, plastics, THoracic etc). You just get a certificate from ASTS, and you usually board certified in general surgery not in transplant surgery.

The certification in your text means a certificate that you can hang on your wall (just a sheet of paper), but you cannot call yourself a Board Certified in Transplant Surgeon since there is not such a entity.

Yeah, I thought it was pretty clear that I just meant a certification, since I didn't say board certified anywhere in my post. Sorry about the confusion.