Breast Surgical Oncology Training Program

Our Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship is a one-year training program accredited by the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO). The program aims to educate future academic and community leaders in breast cancer treatment through sound multidisciplinary and advanced breast surgical training. We appoint one fellow each year.

Program director: Veronica Jones, M.D.
Program administrator: Christina Perez

Core Curriculum

We designed the curriculum to be flexible and meet each fellow's needs and career aspirations, whether it be a career in an academic or a community setting. We offer a true multidisciplinary fellowship with dedicated rotations in breast surgery, plastic surgery (with emphasis on oncoplastic techniques), radiation oncology, medical oncology, clinical cancer genetics, psycho-oncology supportive care medicine, pathology, and radiology with experience in ultrasound-guided and stereotactic procedures.

To cover core educational objectives, our multidisciplinary off-service rotations alternate with breast surgery to allow the fellow to follow patients from their surgical experience through their adjuvant care while allowing the fellow to continuously refine breast surgical technique throughout the year with an increasing level of independence.

Advanced breast surgical techniques we use include oncoplastic surgery, nipple-sparing mastectomy, appropriate axillary management, and intra-operative radiotherapy.

Educational Conferences and Courses

Our fellows participate in multiple conferences, including:

  • Weekly pre-operative case conference with the complex and general surgical oncology fellows
  • Weekly breast oncology didactic series
  • Weekly multidisciplinary Breast Tumor Board
  • Weekly breast disease team research meetings
  • Weekly treatment planning conference for precision medicine
  • Breast Oncology Journal Club
  • Monthly Grand Rounds
  • Quarterly breast surgery M&Ms

Research

Opportunities for clinical and basic science research are abundant, based upon individual interests. Our fellows learn the fundamentals of research, including the basics of research design, data analysis and ethical conduct of research. With over 66 open breast clinical trials at our institution, our fellows will learn about various trial designs, from phase I trials to retrospective studies, and participate in our weekly multidisciplinary research conference. Clinical research projects are facilitated primarily through more extensive national databases. We expect our fellows to develop, complete, and present at least one research project under the mentorship of an identified faculty member. Our fellows receive instruction in abstract and manuscript preparation and is encouraged to present at a local, regional or national meeting. We also fund for travel to at least one national meeting for presentation.