FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:Minnesota Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery to sponsor surgical fellowship December 6th, 2006 Crosby, Minnesota The Minnesota Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIMIS) on the Medical Campus in Crosby, Minnesota will implement a fellowship training program in Laparoendoscopic Surgery. A rigorous matching program has identified an exceptional fellowship candidate. Training is to begin in Crosby in July, 2007. MIMIS now joins the Mayo Clinic as the second approved Fellowship Program in the state of Minnesota. A Fellowship is a one or two year training program for qualified surgeons who wish to acquire advanced skills in the highly technical area of minimally invasive surgery. In June, 2006, the national Fellowship Council approved MIMIS as one of 130 minimally invasive surgery post-graduate training institutions in the United States. The process of matching candidates with fellowship programs is exacting – and highly competitive. This year, 170 surgeons applied for positions at 124 Fellowship Programs. On December 6th, 2006, a nation wide computer-based matching program administered by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) released the results. Dr. Michael Black, currently chief surgical resident at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, matched at MIMIS. He will begin one year of intensive study and training in minimally invasive surgery at MIMIS in July. “We’re elated – and honored - to have such a well qualified and highly sought after surgeon choose to train with us,” says Dr. Paul Severson, Director for the Fellowship Program, and co-director of MIMIS. “This fellowship program underscores our commitment to all aspects of minimally invasive surgery.” The Fellowship will allow one surgeon each year to become expert in numerous advanced laparoscopic procedures that MIMIS surgeons regularly perform, including bariatric (weight loss), gastro-esophageal reflux, colon, complex revisional, and endoscopic procedures. In minimally invasive surgery, surgeons use scopes, cameras, and other new technologies to perform operations through significantly smaller incisions. Performing minimally invasive surgery requires an expertise and a skill set that is significantly different from that required to perform traditional surgery. “This Fellowship is an opportunity for us to teach the skills and spread the technological advances inherent to this new generation of surgery”, said Dr. Howard McCollister, MIMIS co-director and affiliate faculty. Increasingly, medical schools and teaching hospitals are beginning to require surgical residents to learn minimally invasive surgical techniques. The fellowship program at MIMIS will allow Dr. Black and future surgeons to further sharpen surgical skills, learn new techniques and procedures, and study the science of minimally invasive surgery. MIMIS is situated within the Cuyuna Regional Medical Center on the Medical Campus at Crosby. It is home to twelve minimally invasive surgeons – four laparoendoscopic general surgeons, three orthopaedic surgeons, two ob/gyn surgeons and three ophthalmic surgeons. Equipped with four state-of-the-art minimally invasive operating rooms and two endoscopic suites, MIMIS is a regional leader in all things minimally invasive. MIMIS surgeons are on the medical school faculties at both the University of Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota Duluth and actively teach medical students, residents, and graduate surgeons in practice. MIMIS Co-Directors Severson and McCollister serve numerous regional and national surgical organizations as leaders in minimally invasive surgery. More than just a regional presence, MIMIS surgeons consult with medical device firms, helping them perfect minimally invasive technologies and procedures. MIMIS also partners with Hospital de Bienfaisance (“Charity Hospital”) in Pignon, Haiti to help bring the benefits of minimally invasive surgery to that developing country. The MIMIS Fellowship provides the opportunity for the fellow to join Drs. Severson and McCollister in their volunteer teaching activities as they help Haitian surgeons acquire modern surgical skills. The Fellowship Council is an association of Minimally Invasive Surgery and Gastrointestinal Endoscopy fellowship directors. It was formed to establish criteria for implementing and enriching fellowship programs and standardizing the fellowship application and selection process. It provides a communication forum for disseminating information about fellowship programs, discussing fellowship issues, and communicating the Council’s positions to other organizations. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:Theresa Sullivan
Cuyuna Regional Medical Center
Minnesota Institute For Minimally Invasive Surgery
320 East Main Street
Crosby, MN 56441
218.546.4354
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