Advanced Gynaecologic Surgery

Date Updated: July 9, 2019

Program Directors:
Dr. Ally Murji MD, MPH, FRCSC
Assistant Professor
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
University of Toronto
Mount Sinai Hospital
Email: Ally.murji@sinaihealth.ca

and

Dr. Jonathon Solnik MD, FACOG, FACS
Head of Gynecology & Minimally Invasive Surgery
Associate Professor
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
University of Toronto
Mount Sinai Hospital
Email: Jonathon.solnik@sinaihealth.ca

Site: Mount Sinai Hospital

Application Deadline: Submit Application Form between June 17 – August 15 of each year. This program is part of the CanSAGE matching process.

Please send any questions to Judy Jorge: Judy.Jorge@wchospital.ca

At the current time, we are only accepting applications from Canadian-trained graduates.

To All Applicants:

If you have also applied to the U.S match through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP), please be advised that the University of Toronto is a participating institution and adheres to the match policy. The policy states that "Applicants who have matched to a program or have accepted a position during the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP), shall not apply for, discuss, interview for, or accept a concurrent year position in another program prior to the NRMP granting the requested waiver." More information is accessible at http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2018-MPA-Specialities-Matching-Service.pdf.

Program Information 

Mount Sinai Hospital is offering a two-year Fellowship in advanced gynecologic surgery.  This training program will give trainees further expertise with the medical and surgical gynecological care of women. The program will also allow the trainee to engage in clinical research in a related area of interest.  We will accept one fellow per year such that at any given time there will be a senior and junior fellow.  Our goal is to train academic surgeons who are committed to advancing the field of gynecological surgery.

Our program in Advanced Pelvic Surgery at Sinai Health System and Women’s College Hospital is a relatively young program that began as a one-year fellowship in 2016 and has evolved into a two-year curriculum now consisting of two junior fellows and one senior fellow. Our goal is to provide our fellows with the knowledge and skills to advanced women’s health, focusing on surgical expertise and academic potential. For this reason, we have expanded the program to allow for further professional growth. Each fellow typically spends three to four days per week in the operating room, and one to two days in the office or dedicated to protected research time.

They are exposed to a wide range of reproductive pathology as a result of our six fellowship-trained faculty who have varying clinical and research interests – which include surgical and non-surgical therapies focusing on deeply infiltrating endometriosis, AUB, uterine fibroids, pelvic pain and neuropelveology (the only site in Canada), low grade reproductive cancers, invasive placentation (greatest number of cases at a single center in Canada), Müllerian anomalies and Pediatric Gynaecology.

There is no shortage of surgical volume – we have two neighbouring sites: Mount Sinai Hospital and Women’s College Hospital (WCH). WCH is the first and only independent, academic ambulatory care hospital in Ontario with a primary focus on the health of women. During the first year, our fellows attend specialty clinics approximately once a week. During the second year, they are given more responsibility and act as independent clinicians, with a fellow clinic that is held twice monthly, and a day in the OR where they are the most responsible person. We are in the process of developing more organized elective time during their second year, tailored to their needs and interest.

The goal of our fellowship is to train leaders and academics in gynecology. We place significant emphasis on protected time for academic activities (masters coursework and research endeavors). In the short time since our fellowship was established, we have seen tremendous growth and development. We are proud of our fellows and their accomplishments. With ongoing guidance and mentorship from our faculty, our fellows have presented and published quality and original research. As a result, they have been recognized nationally and internationally for their work. Our fellows have also engaged in leadership and advocacy work with CanSAGE and SOGC.

Structure

Surgical: Three to four (3-4) days per week will be spent in the operating room. Our Division has six fellowship-trained minimally invasive gynecologic surgeons who operate at one of two sites. (Mount Sinai Hospital and Women’s College Hospital). The fellow will be trained in complex pelvic surgery (laparoscopic management of deeply infiltrating endometriosis (including use of laser), neuropelveology, internal iliac/uterine artery ligation, laparoscopic and mini-laparotomic myomectomy, all forms of laparoscopic hysterectomy and exposure to pelvic reconstructive procedures. The fellow will also be trained in advanced intra-uterine surgery and Müllerian anomalies (hysteroscopic myomectomy [electrosurgical and mechanical], endometrial ablation [including global endometrial ablation technique], management of Asherman’s Syndrome and symptomatic isthmocoele (Cesarean scar niche). Fellows will also have opportunity to participate in the management of surgical obstetrics including the management of patients with invasive placenta (approximately 24 patients with percreta/increta per year) and Cesarean-scar ectopic pregnancies.

Research: Half to one (0.5- 1) day per week will be spent on academic productivity. The fellow will be expected to have at least two peer-reviewed publications and two video abstracts during their fellowship and present at Departmental Research Day and at a national/international conference. The fellow will be mentored by staff who are trained in clinical epidemiology/research/quality improvement. They will receive instruction on how to edit surgical videos to be used for education and submission to national/international conferences and to propose research concepts and see project(s) to completion/presentation and publication.

Clinical: Maximum two days per week will be spent in a variety of ambulatory clinics. This will include a fellow-specific clinic (approximately two half-days per month).