Application open now through July 31, 2022!

The SAGES Fellowship Certificate is intended to verify that fellows have successfully completed their training and are exemplary general surgeons with special qualifications in either Advanced GI MIS, Comprehensive Flexible Endoscopy, or both. In addition, this certification markets their advanced training and skills to patients, hospitals, and referring physicians.

CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENT by July 31, 2023:

• SAGES Membership: Fellows are encouraged to become part of the SAGES community of advanced MIS and endoscopic surgeons, and Active Membership in SAGES is required for the certificate program. If not already a member, we invite you to join SAGES now as a Candidate Member. Upon completion of fellowship, you can upgrade to Active Membership with a discounted fee of $150. This discount applies to an upgrade only and is not available to first time applicants to Active SAGES Membership.  Members also receive discounted registration for the SAGES annual meeting.

• Defined category cases (mandatory):
  1. Advanced GI MIS Fellowship: SAGES requires applicants to adopt the Advanced GI MIS Fellowship accreditation criteria. To adhere to the criteria, applicants are expected to obtain 150 Total Complex MIS Cases, with a minimum of the following defined category cases: Foregut (20), Bariatric (25), Inguinal Hernia (10), Ventral Hernia (10), Additional Complex MIS Cases (85).
  2. Comprehensive Flexible Endoscopy Fellowship:
     01. The Fellowship must cover the educational content/curriculum for all 10 flexible endoscopy entrustable professional
     activities (EPAs, see attached list)
     02. The Fellowship must provide a minimum of 150 flexible endoscopy procedures and meet the following case volume mandates:
     A. The cases must fall into the domain of at least 5 different procedural based EPAs (this includes Flex Endo EPAs 3-10, as
     well as the Bariatric EPA “Endoscopic Bariatric Interventions.”
     B. There must be minimum of 10 cases in each of these 5 EPAs
     C. There must be a minimum of 100 therapeutic endoscopy cases 3. The fellow must successfully pass the Fundamentals of
     Endoscopic Surgery (FES) and the Fundamental Use of Surgical Energy (FUSE) programs prior to completion of the
     fellowship
     Flexible Endoscopy EPAs.
     01. Sedation and Monitoring of Patients Undergoing Flexible Endoscopy
     02. Endoscopy In The Patient With Surgically-Altered GI Tract Anatomy
     03. Evaluation and Management of the Patient Requiring Advanced Tissue Resection/Transection/Ablation
     04. Evaluation and Management of Obstructing GI Tract Processes
     05. Evaluation and Management of GI Tract Bleeding
     06. Evaluation and Management of Partial and Full Thickness GI Tract Defects
     07. Evaluation and Management of the Patient Requiring Submucosal or Translumenal Endoscopy
     08. Evaluation and Management of Patients with Pancreatico-Biliary Diseases
     09. Evaluation and Management of a Patient Needing Complex Endoscopic Enteral Access
     10. Evaluation and Endoscopic Management of the Patient with Gastroesophageal Reflux
  3. Advanced GI MIS and Comprehensive Flexible Endoscopy Fellowship: both #1 & #2 Fellowship cases numbers

• Program Director’s On-line Survey: an invitation will be sent to the Program Director once the application receives.
  

• Submit an Abstract to a major meeting during fellowship.

• FLS, FES and FUSE certification (all three are mandatory). 
  

• Attend a major meeting in person or virtually: Proof of SAGES meeting registration can count towards this requirement.

Application reviews will take place in November 2022, February 2023 and August 2023. For additional questions, please email Vanessa Cheung at [email protected]

Thank you!

Michael Awad, MD, PhD, FACS
Chair, SAGES Resident and Fellowship Training Committee

Denise Gee, MD, FACS
Co-Chair, SAGES Resident and Fellowship Training Committee

RECIPIENTS OF THE FELLOWSHIP CERTIFICATION PROGRAM, click here