Colorectal Surgery Fellowship

Why choose UAB for your colorectal fellowship?

Our fellowship program is focused on training the next generation of academic colorectal surgeons and leaders.
Our faculty bring unique clinical expertise, experiences, and academic enrichment to the program.
- Strong clinical expertise in all areas of colorectal surgery and techniques including advanced MIS (robotic, laparoscopic, hand-assist, transanal).
- Strong research expertise and mentorship - our CRS faculty serve or have served as PI on 4 R01s, 1 U01, 2 K-awards, and national society grants including from the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS), the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS), and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT).
- Strong training backgrounds and history at all major CRS programs.
- High-level leadership roles at all major surgical societies where we love to sponsor trainees (current leadership in ACS, ASCRS, AAS, SUS, SSAT, SAAS).
- Invested in mentorship and education with a long track-record of successful graduates
- Passionate about providing the highest-level care for our community - our faculty travel to rural sites to bring colorectal expertise to patients rather than expect patients to come to Birmingham.
The UAB colorectal surgery fellowship will expose fellows to a busy clinical practice:
- Fellows see a high-volume of cases from bread-and-butter to complex referrals.
- Faculty perform over 500 anorectal cases, 900 abdominal cases (including >15 pouches and >100 LARs), and 500 endoscopies per year.
- Faculty provide colorectal surgery expertise at UAB Hospital, UAB Highlands, VA Birmingham, and affiliated community sites.
- UAB Hospital alone is the 8th largest public hospital in the country (>1200 beds), the #1 hospital in Alabama, and the main tertiary-referral center for the entire state of Alabama and surrounding regions.
- GI/GI Surgery (Digestive Health Program) ranked in top 50 of U.S. News and Reports.
- Over 40 operating rooms at UAB Hospital, 10+ robots, and colorectal surgery operations daily.
UAB CRS fellows will become experienced with the entire spectrum of colorectal diseases:
- Weekly multidisciplinary conference that reviews all colorectal cancer cases.
- Weekly clinics and endoscopy sessions with colorectal faculty.
- Co-management of complex inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients with GI.
- On-call experiences at UAB Hospital – the Emergency Department cares for over 140,000 patients per year with a wide variety of emergency colorectal cases.
Broad exposure to advanced surgical techniques:
- Advanced sphincter sparing techniques including intersphincteric proctectomies and coloanal anastomoses.
- Advanced robotic surgical techniques including single-port transanal excisions.
- Reoperative techniques in redo abdomens and abdominal catastrophes.
- Advanced laparoscopy and hand-assist laparoscopy.
- Complex joint cases with urology, gynecology oncology, surgical oncology, vascular surgery, cardiothoracic, spine, and many others specialists (these include sacrectomies, colon conduits for esophageal reconstructions, and exenterations).